Eternal Wrath: Distraction
by Mark-sv
Summary: After the fallout of Doomsday's battle, a series of events unsettle the Justice League as it seems Oliver Queen's past has caught up with him and could very well be his downfall. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor surprises everyone with a public announcement. (Sequel to Betrayal)
1. Chapter 1: The Orb

**Eternal Wrath Volume 2: Distraction**

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**Here we go again, second full-blown story in the Eternal Wrath series! Note that BEFORE you start to read this one you should head over to my profile and read Eternal Wrath: Quaking With Fear.  
It is what I call an "In-Between Book" which is a one-shot helping the transition from Betrayal to Distraction. There will be one-shots like these between every volume of the series.  
Once that's done, you're free to read this one which picks up right after Betrayal. Hope you'll like it.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Orb**

_'Welcome home, my son.' Jor-El to Clark, Season 8, Episode 9: "Abyss"_

* * *

**February 16th 2009. 00:07 AM UTC-6. Fortress of Solitude, Arctic.**

It felt so wrong.

He had been standing right at her side, laughing in joy and relief as they both finally processed why the beast wouldn't get up one more time. It was over. The fight they gave for their lives and the ones of the entire planet was over and they came out of it as victorious people who should have been celebrating their freedom.

Instead, fatality had struck them to the deepest level and all of their friends gathered around her as she rocked his lifeless body in the cradle of her arms. Chloe's shock had lifted up the moment she saw him on the ground, his blood pooling at his side. Davis Bloome had been shot dead by John and she couldn't care less about him as another man got all of her attention.

He was gone, gone for good. How could she even try to wrap her mind around that? He was one of the best people in the world and he was destined for greatness. How cruel could the world be? Taking away a hero in his prime, leaving countless people vulnerable in his wake without even knowing they were.

The world would mourn him if they knew who Oliver Queen really was. Sadly, they never would and Chloe Sullivan was left with a broken heart and the feeling of loss that would follow her wherever she went from now on. She was too caught up in her emotions to try to make sense of anything at the moment but a time would come when her mind started to harass her as it tried to imagine what could have been had he lived. What should have been but never would be.

Soon after, her friends would worry about her. After everything she'd lost in her life, could this be the thing that destroyed her? Had she lost the will to live without him around to brighten her day? It already felt like a lifetime ago since their first kiss in Emil Hamilton's apartment after his surgery.

In truth, it had only been four months ago since their relationship shifted. Four long months during which they had been kept apart by alien matters and misunderstandings. So much lost time they would never recover.

If it hadn't been for Oliver's future self, she probably would never have known what it felt like to be with him, to truly love him and be loved back.

A sudden thought disturbed her sorrowful mind. She was a wreck at the moment. What did it feel like for the man who came back in time to save them only to see his past self die in front of him?

Her head turned towards him, the only thing that was still Ollie to her. It was him. Their eyes met and right then, she knew she wasn't the only one experiencing the greatest pain possible. Her grief was matched, possibly even surpassed by his. He had seen his own Chloe die in his time, his friends get killed by the monster and then there was this... final death that were their undoing.

All were taken away from them by one single person: Davis Bloome and the beast inside him. Hate like she'd never know existed crawled under her skin. How Brainiac had fooled her to make her think he was better than Ollie? How could she ever think he was nothing else but a murderer?

The light of her life was gone. Now, she would only go by on the desire of revenge that she could never act on. Davis Bloome was dead too. A part of her was relieved, the other wished he wasn't. If only she could make him feel the pain she felt right now...

Chloe shook her head. That wasn't her to think like that. Yet, she'd never wished to hurt someone that deeply before. What kind of person would she become without the man she loved?

A sudden flash of white blinded her. She heard the surprised cries of her friends and was reminded for the first time since she realized Ollie was dead that they were there. A surprising warmth filled them and they watched as the brightness dimmed slowly to reveal smoke rising up as a large featureless body appeared.

The thing was immobile for a long time until the light suddenly died down. Two red dots went to life like a switch flipped on. It wasn't the beast, Chloe realized. She glanced at the spot Doomsday was last seen and it was still there, still dead.

The body that stood before them was nothing like The Ultimate. It was huge, taller than the monster and its form was humanoid. Still, that being didn't have a face, its eyes were two simplered points - no pupils or anything else like that, just... dots - looking back at them and its skin was chrome. It looked artificial, cold, metallic.

The dots flashed white as it stared at them. Then, it went red again and the being, having said and done nothing else, simply rushed away in the same manner Bart could do. Only, the teenager was too awe-struck to pursue it.

"What just happened?"

Chloe's mind took a long moment to realize AC had asked a question but she couldn't make sense of his words as she kept staring at the last spot that thing had been. Strangely, there was feeling of emptiness on her left side and her heart skipped a beat when she felt warm flesh in her arms.

Looking down at Ollie, her red-rimmed eyes widened and she held her breath. She swore she had seen his lips move for a second. It all felt slow around her as she focused all of herself onto him. Her mind told her he was dead but her senses told another story.

Eyelids flickered. Chloe gasped. "Ollie?" she didn't recognize her own voice.

Possessed by the will to make sure she wasn't losing her mind, her fingers skimmed over his skin softly. It was definitely warmer, she noted absently as she felt a spot on his neck. Rhythmic ripples stroke her fingers.

It took her a long moment to realize what it meant. Her eyes widened in shock. _A pulse! He has a pulse!_ Oliver Queen was still alive.

* * *

**February 16th 2009. 00:46 AM UTC-6. Miller's Field, Smallville, Kansas, USA.**

Clark flattened the dirt on the ground and sighed. He had just buried Davis Bloome's body. What a strange night it was. One day, the man was gone from the world, the other Brainiac lured him and the League to the fortress only to find that the beast had been split from the man and that he was destined to host Zod's essence.

The fight against Doomsday had been hard. Clark had no doubt, it was the most difficult fight he'd been into, the beast had been even stronger and more dangerous than Titan, the zoner with which he fought in an underground fight club years ago.

His last memories were that of Doomsday grabbing his leg and literally pulverise it. He had felt his bones break and his foot almost being torn away from his body. There had been large stains of his blood on the ground of his father's fortress.

Yet, he stood here, in Miller's Field on his two legs. He was perfectly fine. Clark had been woken up by John whose broad smile seemed wider than usual. He had simply told him that Davis was dead and that the team was getting Ollie to a hospital. The Martian had asked him to bury the paramedic to a quiet place and join them at MetGen after that.

If it hadn't been enough to make him dizzy, his friend had flashed him a grin before he _flew _away, leaving his characteristic red trail hanging behind. Clark's eyes had almost bulged out of his skull at the sight.

Confused and determined to have answers to his questions, he stood up and looked down on Davis' grave. He snorted. Grave was a relative word in this case, it was actually a simple hole covered in dirt. At least Clark had chosen the place where they both first landed on Earth to be his tomb. It was a small consolation.

Davis Bloome might not have been perfect but Clark thought the man was more a victim than anything else. After all, was it his choice if the beast wanted to kill? Oliver hated the man because he had taken Chloe away fromhim for months but that was all Brainiac's doing. He was convinced that deep down, Davis wasn't a bad guy and could have gotten his redemption.

His teeth gritted together and he sped away. He needed to know why Davis Bloome was dead.

* * *

**February 16th 2009. 00:47 AM UTC-6. MetGen, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

It was one of those nights where Emil Hamilton regretted his decision to start working again in a hospital. After all, he had a physics degree which he had worked hard to obtain years ago and he could easily live off a quiet and well-paid research job for a company or a university.

There was something else, though. All his life, Emil had sensed he wasn't complete and never understood why he felt that way. Even during the happiest years of his life which were his marriage, he always felt like something was missing.

Now he knew why. In fact, it simply took Oliver Queen asking him to be the entitled doctor to his team of vigilantes. There it was, he needed to do something good for the worldthat wouldn't be stopped by power-hungry politicians or magnates. With the Justice League, he felt... useful.

And useful he needed to be tonight. This shift was crazy. Following the supernatural event that occurred a few hours earlier, the emergency department had been swarmed by hundreds of frightened civilians claiming the red ray in the sky was the cause of their various 'infections'.

Metropolis General Hospital was the largest one in the city and county but they had recently moved to a new structure after the radiation scandal that had broken out in the news months ago. Emil, as a neurosurgeon, was a staff chief and led the emergencies. It was a raw and difficult job which could also be extremely gratifying. On a night like this however, it was hell.

The hospital was still getting acclimated to its new environment and dispatching every new arrival was becoming harder by the minute. Every staff member had been called in as a measure to treat everyone the best way possible.

Emil knew most of the people barging in through the emergency doors or brought by overworked firemen were simply anxiety-ridden people or hypochondriacs set off by a strange and unsettling event.

As he squeezed through the overfilled corridors leading to the reception room, he tried as much as he could to relay his orders towards the paramedics bringing in a woman and a child involved in a car accident. Both of their conditions were critical and needed immediate attention. "Room 35!" he yelled over the commotion.

"How much more we gonna wait, mister doctor?" A hysterical man rose from his spot on the ground, dirty blankets falling off his needle-marked arms.

Emil looked at him sideways as he passed by. "Soon, sir, very soon." he said, doing his best to sound reassuring to calm him down.

The man grumbled and started to sit down. Emil could see he would start being a problem very soon and he-

His train of thought was interrupted when a familiar face caught his eye. The high-levels of stress in his body just doubled at the sight of the young man. Emil rushed towards him, bringing the teenager towards the staff area which was empty.

"What is it, Bart?"

"Doc, it's bossman," the speedster replied, looking very much like the last time they both were in this situation. "He got stabbed and died but then came back and now he's out of it, he needs you!"

"Whoa whoa, stop babbling kid I need you to be coherent." Emil put his hands on his shoulders. "Now, what happened?"

Bart took a deep breath. "Look, all I know is that he needs a room here right now!"

The physicist saw the seriousness in the younger man's eyes. He nodded. "We're overfilled here but I can find something." he agreed. Emil would have to get a few malingerers to leave a room in a quiet corner of the building. "I imagine he needs discretion."

"Dude you got it there. They're getting him into civvy slacks right now." Bart confirmed.

"Is it like last time?" Emil asked.

The youngster simply shook his head. "It's something else."

They both stared at each other for a moment, the room silent except for the commotion outside. "Okay," Emil acquiesced, looking down at the clipboard in his hands for a moment. "Bring him to the room 22 in ten minutes. it's on the second floor." he instructed.

"Thanks, doc!" Bart's spirits were up again and he disappeared, leaving a gust of wind in his trail.

The other man decided not to think about that and focused on finding a substitute sohe could leave the emergencies and get room 22 cleared for Oliver. He just hoped it wasn't serious.

* * *

**March 6th 2009. 07:04 AM UTC-6. MetGen, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Chloe walked into the room 22 again, closing the door behind herself. The blinds were shut just like they have been for the past two weeks and a half. Her tired eyes fell on Ollie's form wrapped under the sterile blankets of the bed. Her shoulders fell at the sight.

Of course he was still unconscious, she had only left his side to get herself a coffee two minutes ago. Chloe sighed, feeling the tears starting to build up in her eyes. Two weeks and a half and she hadn't left his side for more than a couple of hours during that time. To be honest, she hadn't had a proper shower since he had been brought in. The chairs were hard and uncomfortable and the hospital was never silent duringthe nights.

She was exhausted. Though none of that mattered to her as she knew she would not leave until he woke up and told her he was ready to go. She went around the bed and found her usual spot besides him on the cold chair she felt way too familiar with.

There were so many things going on in the outside world and the guys were keeping her updated. She had even started to work on herlaptop until Emilreminded her that wireless technology was banned on hospital ground. She spent hours beating herself up for missing something so mundane even thought Emil had told her it wasn't her fault.

Chloe's eyes stung and she figured she could just rest a little. She gently took Ollie's hand in her own and dropped a soft kiss on the back on it. A sigh left her lips as she lowered her head on the bed. The positionwas uncomfortable but she didn't care. Unfortunately she found out that even if her body was exhausted, her mind was still buzzing.

Emil was a good man and he meant well and if Chloe wanted to be honest, his prognosis was the only thing that had stopped her from just curling up at Ollie's side and cry. Her hero had been revived by the appearance of The Thing as she called it. To this day, they didn't know anything about it but she knew that without it, Ollie wouldn't be here now and Clark wouldn't have healed.

After coming up with this theory, Chloe's panic had come back for a brief moment. If Ollie was revived, could the same thing happen to Davis and Doomsday? Clark had reassured her by confirming several times that Davis was still dead. The monster however, was another story.

It didn't matter anymore though as Victor had sent it flying into outer-space just a few days after Ollie's admission to the hospital. She couldn't thank him enough for coming up with that idea and making it work.

So it came back to Davis. Emil, Chloe and all of the team essentially came to the conclusion that he too had been resuscitated for a brief instant but, as John's bullet was still lodged in his brain at this moment, it killed him again and for good this time. Meanwhile Ollie came back because the blade that killed him was simply ice which melted with the wave of warmth brought by The Thing and allowed his flesh to reconstitute.

In fact, Ollie had a brief moment of consciousness right after being brought to MetGen until he closed his eyes again a few minutes later. He hadn't made much sense and Emil concluded that since a celestial party brought him back to life, his body was trying to copy with the fact that it should be dead but wasn't.

In short, Emil decided to put Ollie in an induced coma to help his body regenerate. He would wake up when the process was done and should be perfectly fine as his vital already showed. Chloe's relief had been palpable when Emil told her that but she was still anxious tosee the man she loved up and about once again.

That said, there was one last dark spot on the picture. Overall, everyone in the team was fine, Doomsday and Davis were gone and even if Lex was on the run, he hadn't manifested himself in the meantime and had obviously been injured by the beast which should keep him out of the game for a long while.

That wasn't what worried her. Actually the problem was much closer and was also half the reason of her tears at the moment besides Ollie being in a coma. The true question was: if everything was fine and Ollie was alive then where the hell was Oliver?

Ollie's future self had disappeared into thin air the second his younger double went back to life. He hadn't left or their friends would have seen him, he couldn't have been teleported or he already would have contacted them. None of that happened, Oliver was well and truly gone but why and how were the remaining questions that clouded the minds of everyone in the League.

Even, Clark who had wanted to know what happened after he blacked out in the fortress had softened when he saw her distress and went out to look for Oliver, to no avail. He, Bart and John came back empty-handed, confirming their theories.

Two weeks and a half later, the world knew nothing about it as Oliver Queen was officially reported to be overseas for a sudden partying spree and most of the population was more preoccupied with the infamous event of the night of February the 15th. America especially had seen its population's overall agitation spike up after that nightand the authorities did their best to refute any crazy alien theories proposed to them.

That made Chloe smile cynically. _If only they knew _. That didn't stop governments from trying to clear up the whole thing. A few days ago, Victor told her he'd noticed several surveillance satellites scan the Arctic area close to Jor-El's Fortress multiple times. Clark had already activated a camouflage mechanism that rendered it invisible from the sky but they all feared that thegovernment would set up some secret expedition to investigate there like Luthorcorp did to look for Lex.

A gentle hand stroke her blonde strands, she moaned lightly. A familiar chuckle followed by a dry cough pulled her back to reality. Her eyes flew open and she rose her head. Chloe soon met two brown orbs she had missed so much these past few weeks. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"You... you're awake?" she murmured tentatively, afraid to move.

His smile blinded her and Oliver opened his mouth to speak, his grin morphed into a grimace. "Water?" his hoarse voice squeaked.

Chloe's breath shuddered as she reached the bottle and filled one glass in a rush, her hands shaking as she brought it to his lips. He brought his own to steady hers, she gasped at the contact as he gulped down the entire glass.

"Easy Sidekick." he sounded more like himself now.

She swallowed hard, dropping her hand on his arm. "How do you feel?" she asked softly.

His smile came back. "I just need to..." he grabbed her, tugging her towards him. Chloe climbed on his bed carefully but he was having none of that and pulled so she was literally sprawled atop him, burying his face in her neck. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes.

"My god you're really here." he whispered unsteadily. "We're really free!"

That was when she felt the tears rolling down her neck. Her heart stopped for an instant, feeling herself react the same way. "I'm here," she mumbled back. "Ollie, you need to take it easy..."

"Chloe, it's me." he replied, pulling her back so he could see her face. "I'm him."

It took a moment for her to catch up. Surprise dawned on her face, she was about to say something when he spoke again. "I have his memories." he exhaled a shaky breath. "My god I'm so happy to be here!"

"Ollie, I..." she smiled nervously. "I don't understand..." Uneasiness churned in the pit of her stomach.

He shook his head, grinning warmly. "I'm Ollie, your Ollie but I have his memories," heexplained. "Heck I think it's more than that, I have his feelings, his emotions, his-"

"You mean," she cut him sharply. "That you and your future self sort of... merged?" her brow furrowed as she waited for his answer.

He chuckled, genuine adoration filling his eyes. "You got it right, professor."

She sat up in his lap. "What? The two of you are in your body?" she questioned. "Like two minds in one body or.."

He shook his head, cupping her face. "I am still the same guy and I'm the only one in there," he pointed to his head. "But I also got everything that made Oliver him. Chloe, if you knew the horrors he'd seen!"

Her lips parted in shock. "It's amazing." she whispered. "We spent the past weeks looking for Oliver, we thought he was dead."

"No need for that, we're the same guy now." Oliver leaned over, taking her lips.

Chloe moaned, unable to resist as she melted against him, deepening the kiss. Her fears vanished with each stroke of his tongue against hers. Her lungs burned and yet she didn't want to part with him. Moments later, she was forced to and sucked in a breath desperately. She mated their foreheads together.

"You need to know what happened while you were gone," she started, her exhaustion suddenly erased.

"Mmm, okay but I have one request first," he interrupted.

She gazed at him curiously. "Um.. okay?"

He smiled, laying back down on the bed and taking her with him. "What are you doing?" she whispered urgently as he settled her to his side.

"What? I'm getting comfortable." he chuckled.

"But, the nurses..."

"To hell with the nurses, Chloe." He shot back sternly, pinning her gaze. "I need to ask you something first, just listen, okay?" she shut her mouth and nodded, looking up at him with large eyes. Oliver simply watched at her for a moment.

_So beautiful. _He thought.

"Honey I... we've wasted so much time already," he started, looking around. "I don't know how to say that but-"

"Ollie?" Chloe gently turned his face towards her. "I'm listening."

He licked his lips, his eyes never leaving hers. "I mean after everything that happened, I realized that if we wait too long, I might never get a shot at being with you, really being with you." he shook his head. "I don't know what the future is going to be for us but I'm sure of one thing: Ilove you." his grin came back. "I never felt that way before, I love you so much and I know I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't get to show you that." His mouth felt dry for a different reason now. "Would you... What if we stopped taking things slow and just be together like we've wanted for so long?"

Her eyes watered once more. "I love you too, Ollie." she told him. "And I'd like nothing more than that. Like you said, we've wasted too much time." she gave him a small smile, leaning up to kiss him again, sweetly.

Oliver nudged her nose with his. "So," he said. "One day at a time?"

She nodded, a hopeful smile gracing her lips. "One day at a time."

* * *

**March 6th 2009. 10:32 AM UTC-6. MetGen, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

The late morning found Chloe still laying in Oliver's embrace on the hospital bed. He had fallen asleep about an hour ago and she hadn't looked away from him since then. She needed to make sure he wouldn't fall back into his coma or leave her for good.

The lulling sound of his even breathing was the only thing she heard and his movements in his sleep was the proof she needed to know that he was just sleeping.

Emil came by several times to check on them. While the man had had a disapproving look in his eyes when he had found them in this position, he hadn't said anything and instead focused on having Oliver do some tests to ensure him of his good health.

Later, their doctor had shown them the results, announcing them with a relieved smile on his face that Oliver's body had completely recovered and that he simply needed torest for a few days until his energy went back.

Oliver hadn't been fond of that idea, figuring that he basically spent the last month sleeping here and he didn't want more of that. However, after Emil told them he would be released in the afternoon, the blond had quieted down, satisfied and drifted off to sleep anyway. He had tried to fight it until Chloe jokingly assured him she wouldn't move one inch during that time, it had eased him.

Her joke soon became reality because she fully intended to stay at his side until the exhaustion swept over her and she closed her eyes, figuring a few minutes of shut-eye would do her some good.

Three hours later, the door to their room opened without warning, pulling Chloe out of morpheus' arms. The telltale sound of heels clicking against the floor then stopping abruptly had Chloe rubbing her blurry eyes so she could focus on the tall woman towering over her.

She couldn't depict her face until the guest leaned over her. "You've got some 'splainin to do, cuz!"

Chloe's eyes widened. "Lois?"

The brunette scoffed. "Who else?" she said, sitting down on her bedside. "You thought you could hide this from me? Chloe I'm family, how could you not tell me?" there was a hint of hurt in her voice.

Chloe sat up higher in the bed, trying her best not to wake up the man at her side. "Lois what are you rambling about?" she sighed as the haze still clouded her mind.

Lois gave her a look. "He did a number on you if you can't even admit the obvious." she replied dryly.

Her younger cousin yawned. "Lois." she warned.

"What?" she asked innocently. "You're not gonna tell me that hunky piece of male grabbing your ass right now came in your bed by accident?" she nodded towards Oliver who started to stirr.

Chloe's jaw dropped open. "First it's his bed, second... he's not grabbing my ass!" she assured, glancing down at Oliver's hand dangerously close to said-part of her anatomy.

Lois smirked. "So you climbed into his bed, way to go cuz!" she cheered.

The blonde made an indignant noise and glared at her cousin. "Will you stop?"

"I'm teasing you, Chlo!" Lois smiled, affectionately brushing some hair out of Chloe's face. "I knew I was right when I told you there was something between the two of you all those months ago."

Chloe sighed. "Here we go again." she mumbled. "It's recent development, Lo."

Her cousin made a show of gaping at her. "You mean you haven't jumped his bones, yet?" she joked.

A sudden blush crept up her face, Chloe wished the ground could swallow her. Lois' smug expression became one of utter shock. "No way!" she squealed.

"Lois!" Chloe chastised her even as she flushed even further.

Beside her Oliver yawned, his eyes blinking in their direction until they found Lois. He groaned. "Oh please, that's the worst way to wake up." he complained.

The daily planet reporter glared at him. "Watch your language around me, I just learned you've been banging my cousin all this time and I might just decide you're not good enough for her." she told him sternly.

Oliver gulped, slowly moving his hand away from Chloe. "Err.."

Embarrassment didn't even begin to describe what she was feeling. "Lois, I told you not to!" Chloe said, a hint of whine in her tone.

"Oh come on, it's so much fun watching him squirm!" Lois brightened.

He rolled his eyes. "In case you haven't gotten it yet, I'm in a hospital." he said. "You're supposed to take it easy on me!"

"Cry baby." Lois turned her eyes skyward.

"Enough you two!" Chloe glared at them both. "Lois, what are you doing here?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I got a call from AC asking me to come back because he thought you might need someone around to cheer you up. He was worried." she added when Chloe was about to talk.

Chloe went silent, looking down. There were so many emotions running through her right now. She made a mental note to thank AC for bringing her cousin back to Kansas even if it must have been one awkward conversation between these two.

Having Lois being with her and Oliver now made Chloe want to tell her cousin everything about the league, something the reporter might suspect but not realize the full extent of the cousin was family and Chloe hated lying to the people she loved, all of this for one single person.

"Oliver we need to talk." the door burst open once more, revealing that very same person barging in the room.

The billionaire glared at him. "Hello to you too, Clark." he uttered darkly. "I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking."

Clark scowled until his eyes fell on Lois sitting with her cousin on the hospital bed. His stance faltered. "Lois?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm visiting friends." she replied, her tone a bit too harsh.

The alien looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Okay," he swallowed. "I..."

"What do you want, Clark?" Chloe asked quietly, sensing her friend might not be in for a social call.

"Actually... I wanted to talk to you and Oliver." he said tensely. "Bart told me you were awake." he turned to the other man.

"How nice of you," Oliver rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "Go on, Clark."

The farmboy's jaw tightened and he stayed silent, eyeing Lois warily. The latter threw her hands up irritably. "Fine! I'm not welcome here apparently!" she snapped then turned to Chloe, her face softening. "I'll wait outside."

"I'm sorry, Lois." the blonde replied softly.

"Not your fault, hon." she reassured, heading for the door while giving Clark a dirty look.

The door slammed against the wall, making Oliver wince. Someone from the staff would no doubt reprimand the woman if they were around. Not that it was his main concern at the moment as Clark watched Lois go and a tense silence filled the room.

Clark shifted on his feet, not knowing where to start. The other man exhaled shortly. "Clark-" he started.

"I'm taking up Jor-El on his offer." the alien cut him off, looking only at Chloe.

"What?" she gasped.

"I..." he cleared his throat. "Before Lex destroyed the fortress Jor-El had been asking me to follow a kryptonian schooling and I just decided to do that."

"Fine then," Oliver interrupted. "We'll manage without you for a few days, it's not the end of the world. We've been there already."

Clark glared at him. "I'll be gone for years." he retorted. "I won't be able to come back during that time."

The archer went silent, studying him. Chloe had a harder time accepting the news. "B-but what about your life?" she asked, sounding vulnerable all of a sudden. Oliver wrapped an arm around her shoulders, offering her his support.

Clark sighed. "I just gave my notice at the Planet and if anyone asks, you can just say I'm out of the country... something like that.." he explained.

She shook her head, tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. "What about your mother and what about Lois?" she asked sharply. "You think it's alright to drop that bomb on us and just vanish?"

He swallowed hard. "Chloe, it's something I have to do." he tried to pacify her.

"And so what?" Chloe exploded. "You just decided that overnight?!"

Clark glared at her. "It was not that easy!" he replied defensively. "I learned from my mistakes un-" he clamped his mouth shut, looking at Oliver.

The latter felt his anger growing. "Why don't you say it, Clark?" he taunted. "I know you blame me for everything that happened."

The alien's glare turned to him. "I'm not here to fight." he gritted his teeth together.

"Right!" Oliver snapped. "Because you just barge in here without even saying hello and you basically lay all the blame on my doorstep so that you can go have some daddy-time with your kryptonian father but no, you're not here to fight." he sassed.

"I did not bring all of my friends with me that night, you did this!" Clark raged. "One of them could have died because of you!"

"Oh cut the crap, Clark!" Oliver shouted. "They know what they're doing they're not kids! I never forced them and in the end you should be glad we were here otherwise who else would have pulled you out of that hole?!"

The alien shook his head. "I thank you for saving my life but it doesn't make everything okay." he replied tensely.

"Because leaving will?" Oliver shot back smartly.

"You can't understand." Clark pursed his lips.

The blond snorted. "Right, okay." he began. "I'll shut up now because I think I'm gonna bit your head off if I keep talking and this isn't about me." he said, looking sideways at Chloe whose glare never left Clark.

The alien's anger left him as he addressed Chloe. "I have to do this." he said softly.

"You _think _you have to do this." she corrected. "But you know what Clark? If you want to make another mistake then go on, I'm not going to stop you. I have enough of cleaning up after you." she finished, her voice wavering as she turned towards Oliver, hiding her face in his neck. The latter hugged her tight, doing his best to ignore the other man.

Clark hung his head low, starting for the door. "Goodbye, Chloe." he whispered.

"Goodbye Clark!" she mouthed him off bitterly.

After he left, Oliver pulled back from Chloe slightly, tilting her chin up. There was a lone tear sliding down her cheek. His heart tightened. "Babe don't cry..." he murmured.

"I'm sorry." she sniffed. "I'm just so mad at him, he didn't even try to ease us up to the idea of him leaving and he comes in here insulting you while you're recovering..." He could hear the anger building up in her voice.

She sighed and embraced him again. "He was an ass lately... but he's still my best friend."

Oliver swallowed hard, a strange churning in his stomach. "Is it..." he licked his lips. "Is it all he is to you, Chloe?" he whispered.

He felt her freeze in his arms, his heart squeezed painfully. Chloe pulled back, grasping the sides of his face so their eyes met. "Oliver." she said sharply. "Where did you get that idea?"

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Don't evade the question, It's obvious you feel..."

"Clark has been in my life ever since I'm ten," she said, her tears renewed at the pain in his eyes. "And yes, I did love him but that was years ago." she explained softly. "I do love him now but as a brother or something like that anyway." she swallowed hard, the hopeful look in her eyes was her undoing. "What I felt for him was a schoolgirl crush that could never compare to what I feel for you now... if I'm being honest, nothing I ever felt compare to the way I love you."

He nodded, evading her eyes for a moment. "Sorry," he cleared his throat. "I'm not used to that you know... being jealous, kinda." he smiled. "I shouldn't have asked that, I'm sorry it won't happen again."

"No, Ollie!" she stopped him, her thumb running circles over his temple. "I get where you're coming from... Clark and I have this weird friendship and a lot of people can get the wrong idea." she explained. "I swear I'll do anything I can not to make you doubt the way I feel about you."

He swallowed hard. "Same goes here, Chloe." he whispered. "You're amazing and I don't want anyone else."

She gave him a bright smile through her tears. "Better?" she probed gently.

Oliver smirked. "Much better," he said. "Look at us getting all emotional."

She laughed. "Oh right, because it's not like us!"

"So not like us!" he deadpanned. "I mean we're supposed to be tough, rude people with crass all over our skin."

Chloe groaned. "Oh don't remind me I didn't have a shower in weeks! I must smell!" she complained. "Do I smell?"

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Why yes but I think it's sexy..."

She kicked him gently with her foot. "You're gross!"

They chuckled and he captured her mouth in a tender kiss. She felt his body relax against hers and that knowledge warmed her heart. The sound of voices arguing outside had her break their moment. Chloe disentangled herself from him and peered through the closed blinds.

The sight of Lois and Clark glaring at each other made her feel horrible for losing herself in Oliver while her cousin was hurting. Lois's cheeks were alit with an angry flush but she could see the strainin her eyes as Clark walked away from her.

"She needs you." Oliver broke the silence softly. They exchanged a glance. "Go talk to her."

Chloe sighed and moved towards the bed, dropping a tender kiss on his forehead. "Okay but you rest." she pinned him with a stern gaze.

He grinned. "Yes Ma'am!"

The corner of her mouth twitched as she left the room. He shook her head as he watched her leave. Making sure she had closed the door, Oliver pressed his emergency button knowing it would call Emil. He wouldn't stay one more minute in that damned hospital, he wanted Chloe to sleep in a real bed and in his arms. Plus he figured her and Lois would want not to be stuck in a place that reminded them of how Clark let them down.

Lois was his friend and he loved Chloe more than life. They deserved better than a farmboy constantly hurting them in their lives and Oliver promised to himself he would do whatever it took to change that.

* * *

**March 6th 2009. 11:56 PM UTC-6. Fortress of Solitude, Arctic.**

"Father!" Clark called as he arrived at the Fortress.

After what happened with Doomsday here, he had spent a few hours trying to revive the Citadel that was left innate because of Brainiac. Everything was back to normal now and it was time for him to embrace his destiny, no matter how much it hurt to leave people he loved behind.

He just came back from visiting his mother at Washington DC. Saying goodbye to her had stung him the most because he knew she had no one else after him. Martha had stayed strong in the presence of her son but he had seen through her act and the pain hidden there had been intense.

He couldn't let that deter him from his destiny though. Jor-El was right, he couldn't keep reacting to the crises after they happened, he needed to anticipate them. His training was here for that.

The appearance of the thing that saved Oliver was proof of it. He knew nothing about it except that it had come from the Orb and had needed Doomsday to be dead to be unleashed. He only hoped this new danger wouldn't manifest itself while he was gone.

"Welcome home, my son." Jor-El greeted, his marvellous voice echoing through the edifice. "Are you ready?"

Clark gulped and nodded. "Yes father, I am."

"You made the right choice Kal-El." he replied, sounding particularly proud of him. "We will start with the first lesson: You cannot make any compromises, even you and your allies have to be irreproachable..."


	2. Chapter 2: We Were Happy, Once

**Chapter 2: We Were Happy, Once**

_'Humanity's capacity for violence is great, but their capacity for hope is greater than any other I've ever encountered. ' J'onn J'onzz, Season 9, Episode 11: "Absolute Justice" _

* * *

**August 22nd 2009. 08:31 PM UTC-6 (07:31 PM Local Time). Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.**

The streets of Albuquerque were buzzing. At this time of the year, New Mexico was a popular destination. The economic crisis of last year had made it much cheaper for the tourists to wander around the dry, sunny landscapes of the desert. Las Vegas wasn't that far away and most of all, the state gave a taste of the Mexican culture without having to cross the border.

It had been the choice Chloe and her friends had agreed to when Oliver proposed to celebrate Bart's birthday in his element. Going to Mexico would have meant either getting stuck in traffic or crossing the border illegally. Needless to say Chloe had shot down that option immediately.

Their youngest one had then brought up New Mexico and she hadn't had anything to say against it which was the reason the entire group found themselves wandering the crowded streets of Albuquerque, the state's capital.

John and Lois had joined them on their trip, the Martian already being considered as part of the team and the reporter had finally been let in on everyone's secrets. It had led to a few tense moments between her and Dinah but time had defused their hostility towards each other to the point where no one had to restrain them in each other's presence anymore.

Clark had been gone for almost seven months already and as much as it pained Chloe to admit it, him leaving had had more positive consequences than anything else. The first couple of weeks had been hard on the team especially because of the obvious strain between Oliver and Bart. The young man had always been very close to Clark and had tended to blame their leader for the alien's departure.

She still cringed thinking about that evening where all their pent up frustration had led to an almost-fight between the two men. Thankfully, Chloe and the rest of her friends had been there to calm them down and help them voice their feelings. Peace had followed after everything was brought out in the open and the brotherly relationship between them had grown exponentially in the next months.

An arm slipping under hers brought Chloe back to the present. She looked up at her cousin's smiling face. "Don't get lost in your head, one of these days you might not find your way out." Lois teased.

Chloe rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile. "I'm a thinker, Lo. It's my thing."

Her cousin nudged her. "Good thing I'm here or you kids wouldn't have any fun." she shook her head. "Where did you say we're going already?"

Chloe decided to ignore her first words. "I didn't say anything." she replied. "I figured it would be more fun to go with the flow, you know?"

Lois grinned, squeezing her shoulders. "Now I recognize you!" she laughed. "So we got the free pass from this band of kids' mama if I get you?"

The blonde groaned. "You make me sound way too old, Lo!" she complained. "Aren't I supposed to be your _baby_ cousin?"

"Hey I'm not the one bossing that band of tight-wielding heroes around, you are!"

"There are not tights!" Another voice interrupted.

Lois rolled her eyes, looking back. "You never change, Queen!"

"Neither do you, Lane!" Oliver shot back, approaching the two women.

The reporter ignored him. "Whatever! We got to chose then, right?"

Chloe sighed. "Yes!" she stressed even as her smile grew. "But let Bart have the last word, it's his day."

"You know me too well, cuz!" Lois pouted. "No worries Shortie's gonna have his say!" she assured as she left her side to mingle with the group behind.

Chloe shook her head, her breath leaving her at the feel of strong arms wrapping around her. A contented sigh left her lips. "Hey there, Romeo don't get carried away we're in public."

The next second she was spun around in his arms. "What? Sex wasn't even on my mind, I can act civilized for a while!" he grinned. "But I wouldn't be opposed to something right now." his eyes darkened as he leaned down towards her.

She stopped him with a finger on his mouth. "Ollie, not now, we need to eat you know?" she laughed. "And don't you ever get satisfied? I swear the number of times we..." she shut her mouth, her cheeks flushed as she suddenly realized what she was going to say.

Oliver raised an amused eyebrow. "Yes? I didn't hear you there Chloe." he teased.

She shook her head, hugging him. "Shut up! You've already turned me into your personal sex toy, isn't that enough? Now you want us booked in for public indecency?"

He chuckled. "You make it sound so dirty," he slipped in her ear, feeling her tremble. "Don't get the wrong idea Sidekick, I can't get enough of you but the public thing with you isn't gonna work. I would have to kill every guy ogling you then." he smirked.

She swallowed back her desire, reminding herself that now wasn't the time to jump him. "Enough about that," she grinned up at him. "We have a birthday to celebrate."

He kissed her chastely. "Ah so you let them chose? You conscious of the danger, I hope?" he teased.

"I heard you, Bossman!" Bart appeared at their sides, pouting. "You gotta trust my super-mexican-food-spotting abilities one of these days, come on!"

Oliver smirked. "As long as you find us some food that we can handle. We can't all have stomachs like yours, kid."

"I'm nineteen, I'm not a kid anymore, duh!" Bart crossed his arms over his chest. "You old grumpy grandpa!"

The blond frowned. "Did he just call me old?" he asked Chloe.

She did her best to keep a straight face. "Err... well you are kind of the oldest one in the team..."

He looked offended now. "What? And what about John here? He's at least forty!"

"I'm actually seventy years old, thank you for reminding me of that Oliver." The Martian piped in.

Dinah's eyes widened. "You look pretty young for an old man," she said sceptically.

"Well, where I come from, age is a different thing." he smiled.

"Dude," AC clasped his shoulder. "Might be time to consider retiring from the force!"

Lois snickered and Victor shook his head. "You realize that now that you told us your age we're never going to let you off the hook, right?"

"Ah..." John sighed. "at least it will give me another experience out of it."

"You're a weird one John, you know that?" Lois chuckled.

"People, attention please!" Bart materialized in front of them.

"Bart!" Chloe grumbled, having seen him.

He sent a nervous look her way. "Sorry, 'Licious." he apologized. "But seriously, enough weirdness, I'm starving and I pick the restaurant so get in line or get lost!" he winked.

"What?" Lois exclaimed. "I said I was gonna pick!"

"You snooze, you lose gorgeous!" the speedster teased.

"Oh don't let me catch you, you little..." she started towards him.

Bart ran away at human speed ahead of them with Lois chasing behind, they could all hear his frightened cries and her berating curses. The laughs that seized the rest of them were genuine just like they had been for the past six months.

"Come on, don't let them out of your sight you never know what damage they might end up doing." Chloe grinned widely, slipping her hand in Oliver's and tugging him along with her.

AC, Dinah, Victor and John followed, passing by dozens of people walking down the streets. For a moment, it looked like the two misbehaving children of the group had evaded their surveillance until Victor noticed a fairly large crowd gathered around an apparently entertaining spectacle.

He could hear Lois cursing someone and Bart taunting her. _You won't get me, you won't get me!_ He rolled his eyes. "Guess who's become street animators?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Oliver chuckled as they moved forward, playing elbows to get through the crowd. They almost double over with laughter at the sigh before them.

A fuming Lois Lane was out to catch their youngster but Bart had found a convenient human shield to put some distance between them. The poor sandwich-man was being moved around by Bart and couldn't even place a word between their bickerings.

"Oh man!" AC grabbed his stomach. "Who's got a camera?"

A stranger from the crowd grinned conspiratorially. "I have one."

"Dude, you're awesome." the Atlantean beamed. "Could you send me a copy of the pics later?"

The man laughed. "No problem there."

"You got yourself a friend!" AC chuckled.

Meanwhile, Victor had to lean on John to be able to stand up as his stomach started to ache. The Martian gladly helped, watching in delight the exchanges between Bart and Lois as if it were a tennis match with the poor man between the two.

Chloe ran a hand over her face, her cheeks flushed. "I don't know if I should laugh or be embarrassed for them." she chuckled.

"Will you stop? Please, stop!" came the annoyed demands of Bart's shield.

"Yes, Bart let him go." Lois grinned darkly. "Let the man go..."

"Nah, she'll just kill me!" Bart's eyes were wide. "Sorry dude but I care about my life more than yours."

"Don't you think we have to split them up?" Chloe asked.

Oliver pressed a hand against his chest, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Oh man..." he chuckled. "Yeah I think someone's gotta do that. What do you think, Sidekick? Ready to fill the parents role with me?"

She grinned. "I think you and I are perfect for that job."

He winked at her. "Someone restrain that enraged woman please! She's dangerous!" Bart yelled.

"Okay enough of that." Chloe rolled her eyes, moving into the scene with Oliver. "Seriously guys we can't leave you alone for five minutes." she said sternly.

Lois pouted. "He called me a mad dog!"

"It's true!" Bart piped in, still hidden behind his shield.

Upon seeing Lois glaring at the younger man again, Oliver went for Bart and pried the poor man out of his grasp. "Excuse him, he's young." he said as if it explained everything. "And Bart, learn to shut up." he tried for a serious order but his tone came off amused.

"Come on, behave. Lois!" she warned before the other woman could do anything. "One more word, one more step and you get flown back home on the first available plane." she said. "You too, Bart!It may be your birthday but that doesn't give you a free pass for everything."

The two of them looked properly chastised to the amusement of every bystander. There were more than a few praising remarks about Chloe. "Look at that one," a young man in his early twenties nodded towards her. "She's feisty."

His friend licked his lips. "And hot. You seen that ass?" he agreed.

Oliver, having heard the exchange was torn between pride and a feeling of possessiveness. "Hey isn't that Oliver Queen?" a woman shrieked. He gulped, obviously laying low wouldn't do them any good any more.

"Okay everyone, spectacle's over, thank you for your attention but we seriously need to get on with the program and find some place where we can eat." he looked sideways at Chloe who took the hint while the amused crowd started to disperse except some of Oliver's fan who were starting to make noise to get his attention.

"Yeah, forget picking out a restaurant," she told Lois and Bart. "I'll do it."

"But.." Bart protested only to be met by her reprimanding look.

Chloe turned towards the sandwich-man. "I'm very sorry for the disturbance, sir we..." her eyes widened as she finally looked at the advertising board he was carrying. "You have a restaurant?"

The man glared at her. "What you think we'll let you in with these crazy ones you have there?" he snapped though there wasn't that much bite to his words.

"I'm not crazy!" Lois said petulantly.

Chloe sighed and heard Oliver calming her down. She smiled at the man. "I understand what you're feeling but you deserve some retribution after what happened, call it karma or anything..."

He softened visibly. "It doesn't matter anymore, lady." he replied. "We're out of staff, I was trying to find some while your guy practically molested me."

"Dude..." Bart's offended remark came. "Dramatic much?"

"What you-"

"Hum," Chloe interrupted him before he could snap at Bart again. "You're missing some waiters am I right?" she asked as she read the sign.

He nodded warily. "The last one bailed out on us before the service, my _abuela_ is pretty desperate." he explained. "We need to open tonight to pay the bills."

Chloe's eyes narrowed in concentration. Oliver walked up towards her, massaging her lower back. "What's on your mind?" he asked quietly.

"How do you feel about being a waiter tonight?" she asked brightly.

"WHAT?" they all shouted at the same time.

* * *

**August 23rd 2009. 03:09 AM UTC-6 (02:09 AM Local Time). The Puebla restaurant, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.**

"And here you go, one Queso Fundido, one Taco dinner and two Chiquitas!" Oliver announced, setting the plates on the table.

Chloe watched, amused as the customers tried to pick up theirs jaws while they witnessed none other than Oliver Queen himself delivering their meals. It was the end of the shift and she had just served her last table herself along with the rest of the team who fared pretty good if you ignored the dozen or so broken plates over the evening.

She was sure the owner didn't care though, the poor woman had been overjoyed to see them propose themselves as free workers for the night. The day had been pretty hard on her and seeing them arrive and serve the clients had made her pretty emotional.

A sudden squeal made Chloe frown. On the other side of the room, a young girl was gushing over Oliver who accepted to take a picture with her. He then kissed her cheek and the teenager looked like she was about to faint. Chloe chuckled, watching Oliver retreat towards her.

He gave her a sheepish smile. "What?"

She grinned. "I just never thought I would see you in this situation one day." she said. "And you handle the plates on your arms pretty well, you sure you didn't do this job before?"

"Hey you little minx, this evening was your doing and I can assure you I never was a waiter before." he circled her waist. "But I think you know better than anyone how good I am with my hands." he slipped in her ear.

She blushed. "Err... don't try to distract me Mr. Queen, we still have an evening to look forward to."

"Yeah keep your pants on you two," Lois snarked as she passed by. "I'm not sure about the evening thing though, I think it's more like morning actually." she teased.

"It's your fault to begin with you know." Dinah commented.

Lois frowned. "How is it my fault?"

"Well If you and Bart hadn't made yourselves out to be fools then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with." the other woman smirked.

The reporter glared daggers at the canary. "You and I, Blondie we gotta clear the air, right now!" she seethed.

Dinah adopted a fighter's stance. "Bring it on, Lane!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Here we go..." he groaned.

Before any of them could react, Lois grabbed Dinah's arm and dragged her towards the closest table, forcing her to sit down. "What are you doing?!" the blonde hissed.

"Oh shut up!" Lois waved her off, bringing a bottle of tequila with her. She sat across Dinah. "Now, I defy you." she smirked.

Dinah gaped at her. "You really want to get into a contest?" The look on the other woman's face said it all. To their surprise the canary grinned. "You're on!"

Chloe and Oliver watched in shock the two women drink shot after shot. The bottle was already half empty by the time AC and Victor came out of the kitchen. The blond stopped dead in his tracks as he peered past their leaders.

"Oh man, oh man!" he gasped excitedly, rushing towards Lois and Dinah.

"I can't believe that!" Victor laughed in the same manner and joined them. They started to make bets and cheered on the two women, one on each side.

Chloe and Oliver looked at each other, biting back a laugh at their friend's craziness. "They're going to drown themselves before the night is over." she looked affectionately their way.

"Chloé! Olivero! Mis corazónes!" the excited voice of the owner made them jump. They watched a short tanned woman making grand gestures and talking in Spanish rapidly. She laced her arms around them both when she reached them. "Oh mis amores! You saved me tonight!" she dropped a kiss on their cheeks. "Thank you, thank you so much!" she weeped.

Chloe had been surprised at the beginning of the evening by the woman's affection but she was now completely used to it. "It's natural, Susana." she blushed.

"Oh you, hermosa!" she hugged her tightly. "You are the best!"

She smiled. "Thank you but honestly it wasn't much."

"You're too modest, honey." Oliver looked at her in adoration. "You're the one who came up with the idea to help for free."

"For free? Man I thought we had been promised some food!" Bart interrupted.

Susana let Chloe go and started towards him. "_ Oh you, Cumpleañero, never forget about your stomach, do you? _" she laughed healthily, pinching his cheeks. It hadn't been long before she had noticed the young man was fluent in her native language.

They proceeded to have an animated conversation in Spanish much to the amusement of Chloe, Oliver and John who had warmly welcomed the last customers before he had changed the entry sign to 'Closed.' for the night.

"Come!" Susana exclaimed grabbing their hands. She led them towards the cleaned tables where Lois and Dinah were having their contest. She didn't seem to mind and instead told them to get comfortable and that she would serve them right away.

She wouldn't forget the deal she had made with Chloe. A full shift of service against free-food at will. Bart had been overjoyed, it truly was his birthday in that regard.

Back to Lois and Dinah, the two women were being constantly provided by AC and Victor whose cheers went louder and louder with each drunk glass. It was their fifth bottle already and neither Dinah nor Lois looked like they were about to yield.

"Shit we're out of stock!" Victor realized.

AC's eyes went wide. "No, no it can't happen!" he ran towards the kitchen, yelling all the way. "She's gonna win! Fuck I'm not losing my twenty bucks!"

"You're dreaming fish-boy!" Victor called after him. "Lois is drinking her under the table!"

The two women didn't pay any attention to their audience, their eyes solely focused on each other and the glasses in front of them. The determination to beat the other was stronger than anything else at the moment.

"They need to eat or they'll get sick pretty soon." Chloe said. "I don't want them to puke on me!"

Oliver grinned. "Okay but you'd have to be suicidal to try to stop them now," he told her. "They would rip you a new one."

John eyed the two women for an instant. Moments later, he was up and at their sides, taking a full glass from Lois' hand.

"Hey!" she glared.

He ignored her and sipped on the alcohol, swirling it around in his mouth before swallowing it. "It's tasty." he finally decided.

Lois snatched the glass back. "Of course it is, you weirdo!" she slurred on her words slightly.

Vic frowned at John. "Man you disturbed her!" he cried. "Dinah slow down, that's cheating!"

"I got more! I got more!" AC padded back, waving the bottle around like a kid would brand his new toy on a Christmas day. Behind him arrived Susana and Bart, pushing a large cart on which was stuffed as much food as possible.

Chloe motioned towards the commotion and Susana sent Lois and Dinah an exasperated glance. She cut through the yells surrounding the two women, getting each glass of alcohol away from their table and shoving food in front of them.

She physically forced AC, Victor and John to sit down, scolding them in her native language. Only Oliver and Bart found themselves snickering at her words while the culprits looked guilty as charged.

"Pff, bummer!" Victor complained, earning a compleasant glance from John. "She was going to destroy your girl. Gimme your money!"

"What? No way I'm handing you my twenty bucks!" AC glared at him. "Dinah was ten rounds ahead!"

"Shut it, flipper!" Lois grumbled, gulping down a full fork of food. "I'm perfectly fine, I was going to get that sadimaso... samidosa...that-that bitch in pieces!" Her body jumped as she hiccupped. "I don't feel so good..."

Dinah cackled. "See? I win! I win!" she giggled.

Everyone but Lois looked at her in shock. "She definitely drank too much!" Bart whispered.

"I never thought she was able to giggle." Victor replied just as quietly, ignoring the look AC gave him as he rubbed her back.

Dinah watched AC goggly-eyed. "Hello there!" she purred, leaning towards him slowly. He was too late to catch her and she lost balance, crashing loudly on the ground. They all looked horrified as she coughed for a moment until she saw them and burst into a fit of giggles.

Chloe facepalmed herself. "Oh my god."

"That's the word!" Oliver guffawed. "is that even canary?" he grinned.

"What a night, my friends, what a night." John concluded in amusement.

* * *

Two hours later saw their meals come to an end. It was dawn outside and yet no one seemed eager to end the night. Susana had escorted the last customers out a few minutes after serving her one-time employees before she went to join them and trade stories and experiences. It had been a fun night in Chloe's mind.

In the last months, they had all seen their friendships become stronger, deeper, and a group outing like tonight was frequent. Yet, she had to admit it was the most fun she had had in ages.

After their extremely entertaining adventures, Lois and Dinah had both gotten sick. Victor and AC had been punished into walking them to the bathroom so they could spill their guts out. Once done, they had walked back into the room like nothing had happened.

"Come on Ollie!" Bart's whine pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Bart," he warned. "It's your birthday alright but you can't drink alcohol!"

"Man I'm nineteen!"

"Exactly!" Oliver shot back. "Nineteen, not twenty-one!"

The youngster sent a desperate look her way. Her eyes widened. "Don't look at me!" she said. "If Ollie says no, then it's no!"

The teenager pouted and she couldn't help feeling like a mother chiding her child. The glance she received from Oliver sent warmth flowing through her. He thought the same thing.

Sometimes she wondered how her relationship with him could be so perfect. Not so long ago, everything had seemed gloomy and doomed. Today, she was happier than ever and he played a big part in that. Ever since they agreed not to waste anymore time, their relationship had developed so quickly.

Months later, she could call him her boyfriend without fearing that an alien beast came in to destroy him or that a certain paramedic reappeared to stab him. Instead, he was there, looking at her with such adoration that it made her heart race.

She had moved in with him weeks after he left the hospital. A sudden decision she didn't regret, not even after Lois begged her to stay. They had sold their appartment at the Talon and Lois got herself another one in Metropolis, close to the Clocktower so they could meet whenever they wanted.

Life was hectic and peaceful moments were hard to come by, especially when the entire League had decided to stick around. It had surprised her at first, Chloe had imagined they would all go their separate ways once the Doomsday crisis had been resolved. She was glad she'd been wrong.

It had given them all opportunities to spend more time together and create true friendships that went beyond simple work partnerships. They now were a family and she couldn't live without them anymore.

"Oh my god, I love you!" A voice that suspiciously sounded like her cousin's startled Chloe. Her eyes bulged out of her head when she saw Lois and Dinah crying in each other's arms.

"I love you too!" Dinah wailed back in her drunken stupor.

They hugged each other tightly, pitiful sobs racking they bodies. They swayed and stumbled for a moment but never let go of each other... until they proceeded to crash down into the nearest table. They fell in a tumult of cracking wood and destroyed plates.

Bart was rolling on the floor, holding his sides while Victor held his head, staring at them in shock. At his side, AC rocked his chairs with his incessant cackling as John himself couldn't help the genuine roar escaping him.

Chloe didn't know whether to laugh with them or cry in pity for the two women as she felt Oliver dropping his forehead against his shoulder, his laughter racking her body from behind.

"Crazy kids!" Susana muttered between peals of loud expressive giggles.

"Dude you got that on tape?" AC asked.

"You bet I do." Victor replied, his eyes never leaving Lois and Dinah. "Man is this for real?"

"Okay," Oliver wiped the tears from his eyes, grinning. "I think that's our cue, we better leave while the streets are still empty or we're going to get some strange looks."

John smiled. "I think you're right Oliver." he agreed. "Look at them, they're asleep." he nodded towards Lois and Dinah.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we tell them what happened tonight."

* * *

**August 23rd 2009. 06:45 AM UTC-6 (05:45 AM Local Time). Capelli Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.**

The clerk did his best to keep a straight face as he held the door of the hotel open for the group. They sure did look odd with Lois and Dinah completely out on Victor and AC's shoulders. They had left Susana's restaurant half an hour ago after promising to come back in the future. Chloe still shook her head, thinking of the worshipping glint in the woman's eyes as she kissed them all goodbyes. It had made her smile.

"Thanks." Victor smiled at the clerk. "I'm dropping this one to her room and then I'll crash in my bed, I'm spent!"

AC smirked. "Same here." he tapped lightly Dinah's butt. "I might give her a few surprises in the morning."

"Man I don't even want to know more, just get lost!" The cyborg joked.

"Meaning we could possibly hear some strange noises in a couple of hours?" Bart wiggled his eyebrows at AC.

The blond groaned. "Don't put words in my mouth I didn't mean it that way." he sighed in exasperation. "And I'm not the one you should be worried about as far as 'strange noises' go." he pinned Chloe and Oliver with a playful stare.

The couple froze. "Looks like our reputation preceded us, Sidekick."

There was little Chloe could do to hide the flush filling her cheeks. "Yeah hum, we might be lacking in the discretion." she said, bouncing uncomfortably on her feet.

John chuckled. "I don't blame you, you're young and healthy." he said simply. "Goodnight everyone, I'll still wear my earplugs just in case!" he teased.

Bart smirked. "I like this guy."

"I'll do the same. Sleep well, at least some of us will!" AC followed John to the elevator.

Victor enjoyed the awkwardness pouring out of the couple for another moment. "Nothing more to say." he grinned and waved.

"Wise man, Vic! Wise man." Chloe called after him. She turned to Oliver. "I'll just make sure Lois hasn't taken my suitcase in her bedroom. A kiss?" she asked expectantly.

Oliver smiled, pecking her lips. "Meet you in a minute."

"Night 'Licious." Bart hugged her.

"Happy Birthday." Chloe kissed his cheek and walked away.

They watched her leave. Both men looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Oliver wasn't one to have words evading him in front of people but the young man was different.

"Look..." he cleared his throat. "I know we had our differences after Clark left and I can't change the way I feel about the guy nor can you." he began. "But I want you to know that no matter what happens when he comes back or if he comes back, it won't change the way I look at you."

"Man... you go straight for the heart there!" Bart dramatized, clutching at his chest.

A small laugh escaped Oliver. "Listen to me okay? What we did tonight, the party, the restaurant... it was because you're important to the team, you're important to Chloe..." he wetted his dry throat. "and to me." he admitted. "I want you to know one thing. When you put on your gear and join us on a mission, I trust you... completely. Maybe even more than the others." he admitted. "You've changed so much from the day I found you on that roof in Star City."

Bart chuckled. "Yeah I remember that night..." he said thinking about the way Oliver had scared him out of his skin by interrupting his illegally-acquired meal.

"Was fun, right?" Oliver grinned before sobering up. "You've got a great future ahead of yourself, Bart. Don't ever forget that."

The younger man's gaze fell. "Yeah..."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

Bart pursed his lips, looking away. "Man, it's not that." he said. "I just dropped out of school when I was fourteen, and..."

"I paid private lessons for you to compensate." Oliver refuted. "and you caught up pretty fast. You're smarter than you think."

"If you say, so." he shrugged.

"I don't simply 'say so', I know it. I wouldn't trust you on the field with my life if I thought you weren't smart." The blond explained. "Trust yourself, you may have a wild streak but you're just like me." he put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, their gazes locking. "You're a hero in your own right and you will have us to guide you for as long as you want us." he swallowed. "Not many people would have handled your life as well. You're unique and... and I'm proud of you, Bart."

The speedster looked up at him in surprise, his eyes shining. They didn't move, they didn't talk. The silence was enough to them, all had been said.

After a few moments, Bart cleared his throat. "You're not gonna hug me, right?" he asked fearfully.

Oliver laughed, ruffling the teenager's hair. "Go to bed, kid. That's enough emotions for one day."

Bart grinned, walking away. He stopped and looked back after an instant. "Hey Ollie?" he called. "Thanks."

The smile he gave him made Oliver's chest tighten. He could only nod back, not trusting his voice. Bart headed for the stairs where he -no doubt- would use his superspeed to get to his room while the archer preferred the elevator.

* * *

Oliver unlocked the door to his and Chloe's bedroom, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight inside. Chloe stood in the middle of the room, her back to him. She hummed a tune known to her alone as she folded her clothes on the bed. The T-shirt she wore -that Oliver recognized as his- did next to nothing to cover her sensuous figure. His eyes hungrily traveled up the back of her legs, feeling himself respond in kind

He swallowed hard, closing the door right after himself and locking it. He entered the room as quietly as a cat would. She didn't seem surprised when his hands found her waist and pulled her back against his chest. The evidence of his desire pressed against her backside.

"How did it go?" she asked breathlessly, titling her head to the side as he kissed her neck.

He wasn't surprised that she intentionally made up an excuse to let him and Bart have a talk. Her thoughtfulness only made him love her more.

"It was... rewarding." Oliver whispered into her ear. "I swear I feel like he's my kid sometimes."

She turned in his arms, offering him a gentle smile. "That's because he looks up to you. He needs someone to inspire him and that someone was never Clark, it was always you." she murmured, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He sighed. "You just know how to find the right words, Sullivan." he bumped his nose with her lightly.

She licked her lips. "And I got a few moves that could surprise you, Queen. Speaking of moves..." her voice trailed off as one of her hands slid down his chest to palm his erection. "I think I'll have to take care of that. Mmh?"

Oliver groaned. "I think you're right." he decided as he claimed her lips.


	3. Chapter 3: Back From The Dead

**Chapter 3: Back From The Dead**

* * *

_**AN: Let's get back to business, this chapter is where the plot really kicks in. Enjoy!**_

* * *

_'I believe in the power to reinvent yourself.' Lex Luthor, Season 1, Episode 7: "Craving"._

* * *

**August 27th 2009. 06:34 AM UTC-6. Luthor Mansion, Smallville, Kansas, USA.**

There were two kinds of nights: ones of dreamless, restful sleep and others where imagination was given free reign to explore the darkest spots of the human mind. Most people couldn't remember their dreams after waking up. That morning, Tess Mercer was in the same situation.

Like everyday, she found herself tittering between sleep and consciousness as her brain reminded her that the alarm would set off in a couple of minutes to make the new day real. She didn't need to remember her dreams, she knew what had plagued her mind all night long just like every night in a restless fashion ever since that rainy day of November 2008.

Shudders shook her body. Sometimes she imagined he had broken into the house and pulled out a gun on her during her sleep. The thought of being assassinated in her slumber wasn't the worst nightmare she had hadbut Tess had a visceral fear of death. She would do just about anything to stay alive.

Life, no matter how tough it had been for her, was a gift she clung to as hard as she could. Her belief of death was a cold, pitch black tunnel from which no one could get out of. In one word, dying put an end to everything that she was and wanted to be, it would rob her of any potential experiences in her future whether good or bad. That didn't matter, even torture was better than the abysses of death.

A long drawn out sigh left her lips when the alarm buzzed on her nightstand. Looked like another day had arrived. Tess went to turn the alarm off when it suddenly went mute by itself. Frowning, her hand bumped into something which she couldn't define.

Confused and still obstructed by the fog in her brain, she opened her eyes. Horror crossed her face and she sat up abruptly in her bed, trying to put as much space as possible between her and the man staring at her. His blue eyes examined her as a scream escaped her.

He didn't flinch. Instead, he pulled his arm back from her nightstand and dropped it in his lap as he sat at her bedside. "Well, well, well, Tess aren't you jumpy?" he drawled out quietly. "Don't you trust your security?"

The redhead pulled the cover up to her shoulders. "Lex... how did you get in here?" she whimpered.

The door to the bedroom burst open. George, her personal bodyguard, barged inside, freezing at the sight of them on her bed. Lex raised a hand, motioning that it was fine without ever looking away from her.

George, being her security manager and a man she had engaged herself after her kidnapping, stood in his spot, looking at her. Tess swallowed down her fear, and, after a few moments, nodded at him silently.

He took his cue, leaving them alone and closing the door behind him.

A slow smirk appeared on Lex's face. "I hope you don't mind." he said. "It's still my home after all."

His harassing eyes rendered her unable to do anything but stare back at him like a prey. She had no idea what he was doing and the fact that he hadn't brought up her kidnapping already made her heart race. Was this going to be another one of those unspoken threats he liked to hang over people's head? She had never had that directed at her before but it looked like today was her turn.

After a long moment, a vacant smile lit Lex's face. "Dress up." he said, standing up. "Today is going to be a long day."

* * *

**August 27th 2009. 01:30 PM UTC-6. Queen Industries offices, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Chloe bounced a little in the elevator cage. She bit her lip impatiently as she watched the floor numbers change. She was glad she was alone in the lift because there was a good chance people would think she was weird for being unable to stay in one spot for less than a minute.

That was probably what the surveillance center of Queen Industries Metropolis were thinking if they were watching her now through the camera. Chloe shook her head. She was being ridiculous.

Oliver had left early this morning just like he did every day during the week to compensate for the times he'd been absent and unable to take care of his company. She had been up at that time and they had spent breakfast together but it wasn't enough for her. She missed him.

Barely seven hours without the man and she was acting like a needy girlfriend. Chloe rolled her eyes. _Like I said _, she thought, _ridiculous! _

The elevator doors bustled open and she almost heaved a sigh of relief. There it was, top floor. Marie, a sweet woman in her forties acting as Oliver's assistant and one of the company's Vice-presidents smiled at her.

"Hey there, Petal." she greeted, rounding her desk to hug Chloe.

The blonde smiled, returning the hug. "Hi, Marie." she whispered.

The two women had clicked immediately the first time Oliver had introduced them to each other months ago. Marie already had a strong presence in Queen Industries when he took the reins and he trusted and relied on her a lot. Chloe knew she was a good woman with the kind of values that were hard to find in people nowadays.

Marie had considered the petite woman a friend the moment Oliver introduced her as his girlfriend. Chloe was much better than any other woman he had been with and it was obvious he was in love. To her, as far as Oliver Queen's personal life went, she didn't have a say in it but Marie was glad her boss was finally settling. In the last few months, he had seemed more centered and focused on his work and his employees.

It was actually something, for even in the worst times of his playboy ways, Oliver had always cared for the people working for him. The respect he had for her and her colleagues had then been a stark contrast with the way he treated people in his life. _A complicated man, that one _, she had always resumed.

"You're here to see your man, I guess?" Marie asked.

Chloe brightened. "You guess well."

The older woman smiled and let her go. "Go on," she said. "He's alone."

"Thanks," Chloe replied, sending her a grateful smile as she headed for the closed double doors leading to Oliver's office. She turned back for an instant and put a finger on her lips. Marie grinned and winked at her.

Chloe turned the knob quietly and let herself inside. She watched in front of her, Oliver pouring over several files at the same time. She titled her head to the side and simply looked at him for a moment. He was so absorbed into his work that he hadn't heard her come in and even less noticed her standing a few yards before him.

She cleared her throat lightly for a moment, enjoying the way his head jerked up in surprise. "Ready for lunch, hot stuff?" she teased.

The beaming smile splitting his face when he finally saw her warmed her insides. He said nothing, instead preferring to walk over to her and place a promising kiss on her lips. She let him slid his tongue across hers and nipped back lightly.

He broke the kiss after a moment and brushed his nose against hers. "Hi." he murmured, staring into her eyes.

"Hi." she replied just as quietly, offering him a lazy smile.

"I completely forgot the time, thanks for rescuing me." he told her.

She nodded happily. "I saw that, thank god I'm here to drag you out of the office. You'd spend your day in here, workaholic as you are." she teased.

He chuckled. "Let's glaze over your hypocrisy for now, Sidekick." he shot back. "So, what do you say? Patrese's?"

Chloe stretched up and kissed him lightly. "Sounds perfect." she whispered.

He took her hand and tugged her along. "Come on."

They walked out of his office hand in hand, smiling at Marie as they made their way towards the elevator. "See you in half an hour, Marie." Oliver said.

She grinned. "Enjoy your meal, kids."

"Thanks!" they both replied as they walked into the lift.

"Oh, wait." Chloe fumbled into her purse when her cellphone went off. She answered after a few moments. "Hey, Lois! I'm surprised you have time to call me, I thought your new best friend monopolized your time these days." she snarked, referring to Dinah.

Oliver chuckled and she winked at him. He went to press the ground floor button, frowning when Chloe's hand stopped him. "Wait, what?" she talked into the phone. "Right now?"

He saw her tense up before she took his hand and lead him back towards the corridor. "Can you turn on the TV?" she addressed Marie. "Which channel, Lois?"

Marie looked as confused as Oliver but did as she was asked when Chloe relayed the channel number. The bald head filling the screen onto the wall made them freeze in shock. Chloe gasped, forgetting the phone for an instant as her hand tightened in Oliver's.

"I thought Lex Luthor was dead?" Marie asked, just as surprised as them.

"_...I didn't lie, I was forced to hide." Lex Luthor retorted to the journalist sitting across him. "This is the truth."_

_The dark and sheltered atmosphere of the TV set revealed that the interview was a live broadcast from his mansion in Smallville. The alert band at the bottom of the screen read: 'LEX LUTHOR: STORY OF A DEAD MAN'. _

_The red-haired woman questioning him, known for being an often impassible interviewer was for once unsettled as her obvious surprise transcribed to the audience. "Then Mr. Luthor, could you explain the reasons you disappeared into Arctic a year ago, I think our audience would like to know what you went through." _

_He looked down, reviving these moments. "As the head of Luthorcorp at the time, I was under a lot of pressure." he started quietly. "I was being personally targeted by one of these vigilantes... called the Green Arrow." _

"_Are you incriminating the Green Arrow?" The Journalist interrupted._

"_He is not what he pretends to be." Lex replied, looking her in the eye. "Luthorcorp may have been criticized in the past for ethic matters but we always have thrived for improving the human condition. We are not monsters, we are scientists looking to push the limits of our world as far back as it is allowed and our success in that matter brought a lot of envy and resentment towards Luthorcorp and specifically towards my own person since I was... the CEO, the most representative person in the company."_

_She nodded. "How does the Green Arrow come into the picture?" _

"_I don't know anything about the man but I suspect that he was hired by one of our competitors to either steal our corporate secrets or slow us down in our projects. In any way, he is far from being the hero that he pretends to be."_

"_Do you have any specific names in mind about the people who could have hired him?"_

_Lex gave her a small smirk. "Miss Castle, I think you will understand that I cannot disclose any information relevant to the current investigation." he said. "I will admit, however, that I have my suspicions and voiced them to the FBI. I trust them to clarify the situation." _

_Carrie Castle nodded. "It's honourable." she replied. "Please, tell us about your meeting with the Green Arrow in Arctic." _

_The smile left his lips. "Luthorcorp had established an experimental facility in the area because the Arctic provided us withunique characteristic that we couldn't find in Alaska, for example." he explained. "I was on my way there to supervise one of our latest discoveries at the time which could have had a lot of potential. Without getting into the technicalities, let's just say that we believed to have found the way to control the ocean by altering its levels of salt. It could have been very useful to prevent tsunamis, for example." _

"_Impressive!"_

"_Yes it was." Lex admitted grimly. "But we would never know because before we could have made any progress, the Green Arrow destroyed the facility." He paused. "I was inside, I was his target. He had stuffed the building with explosives and I only made it out alive thanks to my good friend Edward Groll." he looked up, blinking rapidly. "Sadly that didn't help him."_

"_Yes, Mr. Groll was found dead six months later in Metropolis." Carrie explained for the camera. "Do you believe the Green Arrow murdered him?"_

"_Who else?" Lex asked. "Edward helped to hide me from him and he was so powerful that I had to let the world believe I was dead to escape him. And I was badly wounded, I still have the scars that could have cost me my life had Edward not performed surgery on me."_

"_We have the pictures of your injuries that you kindly gave us, Mr. Luthor. Thank you it couldn't have been easy." Carrie fixed him with an empathetic stare as two images filled the screen. It showed the right flank of his body scattered with deep scars._

_Lex visibly swallowed. "Anything to prove to the public how dangerous the Green Arrow really is." he said. "He killed my employees, people I considered my friends and so many innocents." _

"_Mr. Luthor, If I may ask... Why did you come back if the Green Arrow is so dangerous?"_

"_Because I decided I couldn't let him win." Lex replied without hesitation. "I woudn't let him dictate the way I live and I want to protect, myself of course, but also the American people who are more at risk than they think."_

"_What do you mean?" Carrie asked. "The Green Arrow is only one man."_

"_How can we be sure he is alone under the mask?" Lex shot back. "Let's not forget that we are talking about someone with immense powers over the country. I suspect that he is at the head of a large network of criminals set out to harm the country in the name of profit."_

"_I believe that you have a declaration to make in that sense." Carrie prompted, folding her hands in her lap._

"_You're right I do." Lex confirmed before staring straight at the camera. "I came back to take the Green Arrow down but also to help my country. We are in a difficult situation which will only get worse if we keep following our current leaders. This is the reason that I announce in front of all of you, my desire to run for the presidency of the United States of America..."_

The rest of his words were drowned out to Chloe. She felt a wave of dizziness seizing her. _Lex Luthor wants to become the next president of the USA. _Her mind prompted, she blanched.

At her side, she felt Oliver's hand squeeze hers tightly, his labored breathing filling her ears. "That motherfucker!" he fumed, his eyes wide and raging.

Marie sent a surprised look his way. Before she could ask him what was wrong, Chloe led him towards the elevator and made up an excuse to leave, well intent on driving him straight back to the Clocktower and call in their friends.

They had a serious situation, the Luthor kind.

* * *

**August 27th 2009. 01:44 PM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"I can't believe the amount of bullshit spewing out of his mouth," Dinah boiled, rewatching the interview on the large screen in Oliver and Chloe's living room. "Look at that, she's eating it all up! Bitch!"

Victor huffed at her side. "Who cares? She's probably on his payroll too."

"Yeah, you're right." she agreed, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. "Enough of it, it's making me sick!"

"What you guys really think people are going to vote for Lex?" Bart asked from his spot on the couch.

The news of Lex's come back and run for the presidency had set the medias on fire all over the country. Lois had been forced to stay at the Daily Planet and John couldn't excuse himself from a police intervention but the rest of the league had been called up to the Clocktower just as soon as Chloe and Oliver had seen the interview.

"Of coursethey are," Chloe grinned cynically. "He's already starting the PR machine and they're making him out to be a hero. Listen to what he said, it's obvious he'll pull the Green Arrow thing as much as he can to play with people's fears." she watched sideways her companion whose silent anger was barely contained. "We all know most of the population is easy to manipulate."

"Shit." AC cursed. "Plus if he brings the Feds in, we're gonna be in trouble."

All heads turned to him. "He already knows my identity, yours too Dinah, and Vic and Bart..." he sighed. "Maybe we should split up and lay low for a while..."

"No!" Oliver exclaimed, glaring at him. "If we do that we would only be giving him a clear path to the White House. It cannot happen!"

"He's right." Chloe gripped Oliver's arm, leaning against his side. "That would be a rookie mistake."

"Okay, okay." The Atlantean raised his hands. "What can we do then to stop him?"

Chloe's shoulders slumped in defeat, everyone sensed the seriousness of the threat through her gesture. "Nothing." she said. "We have no tangible proof of his illegal experiments, we can't wait for him to open another 33.1 since I'm sure he won't do that precisely not to get caught and... we can't kidnap him or we would have half of the authorities on our backs. He planned his move and he did it masterfully."

"Wait, you think he's gonna be backed for his election?" Bart broke the silence. "I mean you either have to be Republican or Democrat to be president, right?"

"You got a point there." Victor agreed. "He can't get elected if he's not supported by the big boys."

Oliver's gaze fell. "He was a Republican candidate for the Senator seat of Kansas three years ago." he said numbly. "He failed but he has history and ties with the party now. Getting support won't be difficult."

"Martha!" Chloe exclaimed, her eyes wide as she glanced at Oliver's face. "It was her husband who won against Lex last time and she took over his seat after he died." she explained, heading towards the nearest phone. "She's the only one we know who has enough power to affect Lex."

"That's a start." Oliver watched her, a hopeful glint in his eyes. "If she can pull a few strings to overthrow him as the Republican candidate then he loses and we win."

"I just hope she's got enough leverage over them." Chloe breathed as she waited for the other woman to answer.

He nodded. "I'll be backing Martin Hill, he's the only one who will be able to threaten him if Lex gets his support." He watched the rest of the league gravely. "In the meantime, we stay in each other's sights at all times. I'll be renting apartments downstairs for all of you. We can't let Lex use anything against us."

"You think Lois will agree too?" he asked Chloe.

The blonde made a face. "She won't be happy but I won't give her a choice." she winked at him.

He smiled. "Any objections?"

Everyone shook their heads silently. "Good then let's get on with the plan."

* * *

**August 27th 2009. 03:50 PM UTC-6. Luthor Mansion, Smallville, Kansas, USA.**

"Thank you very much, Lex." Carrie Castle shook his hand as the rest of the TV crew were disassembling the set. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

The billionaire smiled. "Just like last time." he assured as he watched her walk away.

The journalists had taken all of their belongings out of the mansion in no time and soon, Lex found himself spinning around the room. He closed his eyes and inspired deeply. _It's good to be back _. He thought.

It wasn't the first time he had come back here since his disappearance in Arcticbut today was much sweeter. He was back into the civilization and with a great future ahead of him.

He sat down into the familiar chair behind the desk he had occupied for years and watched in mild amusement another redhead walk up towards him hesitantly. "Can I talk to you, Lex?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Of course, dear, you know I'm open to anything coming from you."

Tess frowned, unsure how to interpret his words. "I... I found some programs at Luthorcorp when I took over." she started, seeing him take on a poker face immediately. "I mean, understand me Lex I wouldn't have bothered you with that but... you launched them all personally and..."

He rose from his chair slowly. "What is this all about?" he asked evenly.

She did her best to control her breathing. "Their contents were... somewhat questionable." she replied, looking through the files in her hands. "I have... Project Ares, Project 33.1..." she took a sudden step back when he started to approach her. "... Prometheus..." she squeaked.

He looked at her, amused. "Ah... Tess, Tess... Tess." he was now in her personal space. "Anything else?"

She swallowed tightly, standing still. "I also couldn't find my... my birth certificate." she locked gazes with him, hers uncertain and nervous, his hard and predatory. "Apparently it is locked in a vault you own but I don't have the key..."

She gasped loudly when he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her on the top of the desk. "Lex!" she said, her eyes wide.

He smirked, pressing himself against her. "Always full of surprises." he traced the line of her jaw with his finger for a long moment.

She whimpered, fear churning at her stomach. "Lex..."

The bald billionaire abruptly took her chin in his hand and forced her to look him straight in the eye. "Why are you asking all the questions, Tess?" his voice was calm but there was a hidden veil of threat that she recognized in his tone.

Tess could hear the thumping of her own heart against her ears. "I just stumbled onto them and they're... they're..."

"Yes?"

"They're unethical." she finished, stammering a little.

A cold smile slip onto his lips. He drew her face close to his, they were almost touching. "Do you believe me when I say sometimes we need to break some rules in the name of progress?"

His voice surrounded her, there wasn't much she could do at that stage other than look into his eyes and try not to wince. "Yes." the word left her lips in a breathless whisper.

"I am all for the greater good... I just take a few _necessary_ shortcuts to get there." he told her, tightening his hold around her body for an instant.

She was sure she was trembling. There was something in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before that moment. Tess wasn't stupid, she knew Lex Luthor wasn't a man who always followed the lines of what was morally rightbut what she found with these projects went much deeper than that. It wasn't just walking over the line, there were several instances in which these projects literally crossed it.

Her eyes blinked rapidly when he suddenly let her go. She watched his retreating form head for the door. "I'm taking my bedroom back, if you don't mind." he said over his shoulder. "I'm having dinner at seven with my backers, you will be there." It wasn't a question. "Oh and Tess?" he looked back her way, his eyes dark.

"I hope you're not tired, you will need your energy tonight."

A chill crept up her spine as he left. She let out the breath she'd been holding, feeling warm tears prickling the corners of her eyes. She held a hand to her mouth to hold back a sob as her body writhed, expelling her fears.

Shaking hands ran over her face and she wondered what she was doing here with this man. He was dangerous, that much was obvious. How did she fail to see that before?

She had been blind, simply. _Blind and stupid! _She berated herself.

Her mind was made up now. She had made her decision. Climbing down the desk, she went for her purse, fishing out a disposable cellphone she had bought months earlier but never had the nerve to use in that time.

Her fingers quickly typed in the digits she knew by heart after staring at the card in her hand for so long. Tess unsteadily brought her cellphone to her ear and waited, looking around to make sure she was alone.

"Password please." A computerized voice prompted.

Tess frowned, looking down at the card. She was sure no one had given her any password.

"Password please." The voice repeated after a few moments. Her fear-clogged mind took a long moment to realize that the phone number on the card had two additional digits. Exhaling deeply, she typed them in and waited.

There was no confirmation that her password had been accepted and a long silence followed. She was about to hung up when a familiar voice answered.

"Hello?" she sounded busy.

"Hm, Mrs. Waller?" she asked. "This is Tess Mercer."

Amanda Waller's voice softened. "I've been waiting a long time for this call. Do you realize what it entitles?"

"Yes." Tess nodded, taking another look around herself as a sudden urge to make sure Lex wasn't eavesdropping seized her.

"I'm ready."

* * *

_**A few notes: The show implied that Queen Industries' offices in Metropolis were set at the Clocktower where Oliver lived too. I made a distinction in this universe because it felt weird to me. So Oliver owns the penthouse of the Clocktower and people may refer to it as Queen Tower simply because he lives in it and is a big name but his company is housed elsewhere.**_  
_**But that's irrelevant compared to my second point: I know very little about how a presidential election in the USA is done so I'm taking a few liberties. In this universe, the presidential mandate lasts five years instead of four in real life and the next election year is 2010 and not 2008 because it couldn't fit with my timetable.**_  
_**Finally, thank you for the comments, kudos/favorites, etc... it's always a nice surprise!**_


	4. Chapter 4: On The Brink

**Chapter 4: On The Brink**

* * *

**Warning: Rape(ish) situations, obvious sexual hints. Gore and violence. Overall, disturbing content.**

* * *

_'After you parents were murdered, that desire for revenge; that... darkness, bubbling under the surface. It terrifies you.' Zod to Oliver, Season 10, Episode 19: "Dominion" _

* * *

**August 28th 2009. 05:19 AM UTC-6. Luthor Mansion, Smallville, Kansas, USA.**

Tess lay awake in bed, exhaling a shuddering breath quietly. She hadn't slept at all. She couldn't sleep, not with the man currently lying at her side. The things she had had to do for him disgusted her. Here was a man she had once loved and now despised for, she had seen the real him. His ambitions, his hopes; they had been what had forged her years ago and never, not even once, did she question the values he had taught her during that time.

Until now. Today, as she lay in a monster's bed, Tess realized how foolish she had been. His desires for greatness were what fueled him, he wanted to be a hero, to be regarded as the ultimate accomplishment. He wanted to be worshipped, _to rule _. There was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn't let anyone deterring him from his plans.

She swallowed the bile down her throat and, slowly, silently, started to sit up. The sheets slid from her nude form as her feet met the ground softly. Hoping beyond anything else that she hadn't stirred him awake with her movements, she began to rise, well intent on getting out of his bedroom and find the refuge ofwork where he couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to in public.

However, all her hopes crashed down as a gasp left her. His arms had shot out, wrapping around her body and retaining her with a dangerous hand on her breast. He squeezed it lightly and she trembled in a way he would probably interpret as arousal instead of fear.

"Where are you going?" he asked curiously.

Tess felt somewhat pacified that he thought she had truly enjoyed their night together. Summoning all her remaining strengths, she titled her head to the side, acknowledging him but not looking directly into his face.

"I need to leave for work." she said after a moment. "Some of us have a company to manage, Lex." she attempted a joke, deceiving him of her real emotions.

He stayed silent. She could imagine the smirk on his face and the way he would raise an eyebrow at her, letting her know he didn't fully believe what she had been saying. Eventually, he pulled her back onto the bed, settling himself above her. She could feel his desire pressing against her stomach and her heart hammered against her chest.

The mask she had perfected for years was the only thing that prevented her from openly wincing. She knew in that moment that she had to fake her way around him for a little while longer.

He leaned down, his lips brushing against her ear. "It's still early," he whispered. "We have plenty of time yet."

When he rose again and their eyes met, she knew she couldn't get out of the devil's clutches on her own. She took solace in the fact that Waller would probably decide to act soon because Lex Luthor wanted to be the President of the United States and she refused to be by his side when that happened.

* * *

**September 1st 2009. 07:11 PM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Papers were left sitting on the desk, his computer was shutting down and the phone was disconnected for the day. Oliver ran a hand in his hair and sighed in relief. It was finally time to go home.

Another long day of work behind him, he started towards the doors. He had had to put on more hours at Queen Industries to calm down the Board of Directors who, unhappy with his previous absences, were seriously threatening to overthrow him for another CEO.

Until now, they had kept him at his position even during his dark days when his playboy self used to tarnish the company's reputation because he was a great vector of attention for them. The problem was that the times Oliver had had to absent himself for Green Arrow related issues had taken its tolls on the directors' opinions of his ability to lead the company.

_Greedy old bastards. _He thought. _I can handle pressure, I've been under pressure practically all my life, I'm not gonna snap! _

He was relatively wiser than he had been years before, and he certainly was in control of life now more than ever but the fact that these people thought so little of him bothered him. He couldn't take one more look from any of them openly telling him without words that his parents would be disappointed.

There was nothing else that made him want to wring their necks more than that. Thankfully, Oliver had Chloe and their friends to remind him that he was more than just the façade the public knew.

The issue was that it didn't change the fact that his current position at Q.I. was threatened. _So what if I'm not there all the time? _He huffed on his way down the aisle. _What if the stocks aren't up all the time? I'm saving people for christ sake! _

Oliver Queen didn't own his company. He had made the terrible mistake of selling his parent's shares when he was twenty. At the time, he had hoped it would make them react and come back to give him a piece of their minds. A foolish move, that he knew. There were a lot of low points in his past but this had been one of the worst decisions he had ever made.

Years later, he was no longer in control of his parent's legacy and had to play wisely not to piss off anyone in the Board of Directors. His move to Metropolis three years ago hadn't pleased them and it had gone downhill ever since.

If there was one thing Oliver had to recognize, it was that on the professional side, life didn't look too good for him at the moment.

As if it wasn't enough, his personal life wasn't going so well either. Pictures of him and Chloe together had been leaked in various tabloids over the country and even if she was putting on a brave face, Oliver could see she was struggling with the deductions and judgements of the press. He couldn't stop them now, it was too late but he would be damned if it ended up costing him the best thing that ever happened in his life.

This wasn't even all of it. There was another serious matter hanging over his head. Along with his and Chloe's pictures were some of them with the entire league together during Bart's birthday. What had been a happy and carefree day had dangerously backfired on them and if Lex had had his doubt before then he sure would be convinced now.

Oliver was brought back to the present when the elevator pinged and the doors started sliding open. The tension between his shoulder blades was so strong that he failed to notice the way his guts tightened. An instinctive reaction he had mastered to sense the danger around him.

He was about to board in when a tall hooded frame in the cage made him freeze on spot. He could only watch in bewilderment a suspiciously familiar man standing in front of him. "...the hell?"

The man rose his bow and nocked an arrow in his direction. Oliver frenetically backed away, hitting the reception desk on the way, he stumbled on the ground right as the arrow sizzled through the air and embedded itself into the wall. It was over in an instant.

The doors slid closed and with them, the danger disappeared as the man stayed inside. Oliver was left alone, adrenaline still pumping into his blood. His eyes were wide as he rose to his feet. Around him, papers were strewn across the ground and he had broken a light as he fell.

That wasn't his main concern however. As he watched the spot on the wall where the arrow should be, he found nothing, not even a dent. A nagging feeling in the back of his head started to pump anxiety into his veins. He was suddenly urged to check the elevator cage which had stayed stationary behind the doors.

Somehow, he knew he should have expected to find nothing again and the emergency trap hadn't seemed to be activated. Oliver fell to his knees, a churning sensation filling his stomach. He gasped for air, his chest incredibly tight as his eyes started to burn.

"It was me... It was me..." he whispered unsteadily.

The sound of his labored breathing drowned out everything else and when he sensed the walls closing in on him, he knew he had to get out. The pressure on his shoulders was too much, it was unbearable, he needed some release.

* * *

**September 1st 2009. 10:43 PM UTC-6. Streets of Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

The Green Arrow was high on exhilaration when he appeared in the sky of Metropolis, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as the night started to fall. He flexed his muscles relentlessly, needing to burn his excitement onto someone.

Down in the streets, people were wandering around, some leaving their work, others taking a walk while a few waited in the dark for a prey to pass by. He gave them no attention. Preferring instead to fill his lungs with the scent of a city he had power over.

A man in a suit, phone stuck to his ear bumped into a woman out with her little daughter for a walk. Their altercation caught his attention and he positioned himself on the roof to have a better view. The man shrugged unapologetically and cursed her as he walked away, phone still to his ear.

The Green Arrow's eyes flew over the woman's form appreciatively, watching her from afar as she walked away with her child. Once she was out of sight, he found the man fumbling with his keys in his pockets as he stopped in front of his car.

He cracked his neck, his hand grabbing the large bow attached to his back. A green titanium arrow hit the string and was pulled back as he aimed. He took a long time to make sure he wouldn't miss. Then, his fingers snapped open and his instrument of death was released. Down thirty floors, the man was innocently talking into his phone, unaware of the danger.

He didn't hear the whistle of the metal cutting the air. He didn't feel pain when the arrow went through his lung and stuck there. It only came when he looked down at the uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

His screams echoed through the neighborhood but no one came soon enough to save him. Seconds later, the Green Arrow revealed himself at his side and pushed him to the closest wall. People hurried their way, hearing the cries of pain and terror until the frightening yells turned into a dying gargle and then, nothing.

The bystanders watched in horror the dead man pinned to the wall, arrows protruding from every limb. His head was lolling forward, threatening to detach itself from the rest of his figure as a line of tightly stuck arrows had pierced his neck and almost decapitated him.

At his side, the Green Arrow sent them a smirk, wiping the blood away from his hand before he grabbed his crossbow and lifted himself towards the rooftop, disappearing into the night. Back onto the wall, a blood coated sentence shone into the darkness. Everyone could read the rage written onto every word.

_'The first of many' _

* * *

**September 1st 2009. 11:01 PM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

It was late, very late when Oliver came back. Taking a deep breath to calm himself as the elevator came to a halt at his penthouse's floor, he let himself in quietly, frowning at the sight greeting him. The apartment was set into full watchtower-mode, the large TV screen was down from the ceiling, his Green Arrow room was open and there were Chloe, Victor and Bart frantically arguing over what their next course of action would be.

The argument died down when the billionaire came out of the elevator, a sheepish look on his face. Chloe was the first to react. "Oliver!" she breathed in relief before wrapping her arms around him. She then proceeded to check if he didn't have any injuries. "Where have you been? We've been looking for you for hours!"

"Dude, you gave me the chills when I saw you weren't at work and it looked like someone had a fight back there." Bart assessed. "Remember we were supposed to walk back together?"

Oliver sighed, closing his eyes. "Sorry, guys." he said, racking his brain to come up with an excuse. "I... I just became frustrated...at work. I mean things aren't so smooth right now and I just needed to get out and breathe fresh air for a while." he explained. "I forgot about everything else... sorry."

"That was stupid!" Bart exclaimed.

"Yup, it was." Victor chimed in. "We aren't used to that coming from you Ollie. And I hope we'll never be. Never again okay?"

Oliver nodded, tightening his hold on Chloe, she could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage. "Sorry to let you down, I... I don't know what went through my head, honestly. It won't happen again you have my word."

The cyborg draped his arm over Bart's shoulders and led him out. "Better that than the real thing though, right?"

"You get a point there, Vic." The blond nodded.

"Come on Short-stuff, we gotta get Lois from the planet." Victor winked just before the elevator brought him and his friend down. As soon as they left, Chloe detached himself from her companion and gripped his face with both hands. "You sure you're okay?" she asked softly, her eyes intently studying him.

Oliver had to catch another breath. "I am, I swear." he replied assuredly. "Why would you think that?"

She looked away for a moment. "You feel... off." she admitted.

He swallowed hard. "I'm fine." he insisted, his stomach clenching at the look of disappointment in her eyes. He should have know she would see right through his act. Yet, she was Chloe and she didn't press him, probably thinking he would open up when he felt more comfortable.

Self-loathing wasn't even a strong enough word to describe what he was feeling at the moment. He felt horrible for lying to her that way but he had no other choice. He couldn't reveal the dark part of himself.

* * *

**September 2nd 2009. 08:00 PM UTC-6. Luthorcorp Plaza, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Tess tried to focus on her computer screen but instead found herself listening to the noises around her, even the smallest ones. She had been doing that more often than not lately. She was unable to be in a room with someone else and be able to control her nervousness. She either needed to be alone or in a crowd. That way she felt safe.

Likewise, she couldn't have someone standing behind her back without pure fright overwhelming

her. Tess wasn't stupid, she knew it was all connected to Lex. She couldn't spend one more night in his bed, the thought of going home to him every night made her physically sick.

This was the reason she had nearly wept in joy the moment she had received the confirmation that Waller would be getting her away from the billionaire tonight. Rendez-vous was fixed at Luthorcorp, eight o'clock, sharp.

Lex was in Topeka, meeting the leaders of the Republican party for his campaign and getting his staff together to win over the masses. It was the perfect opportunity to disappear from his life once and for all. The thought of joining a shady organization or what would happen next didn't scare her as much as the man she had been forced to offer herself to.

The sound of heels clicking against the tiles of the floor almost made her jump out of her skin. Tess watched, her eyes wide as Waller marched her way. Calming her racing heart, she took a long moment to find her words. "You came." she said in astonishment.

Amanda Waller gave her a snide smile. "The cavalry has arrived."

* * *

Regan had been on his way out of the building, having dedicated himself to his job ever since the day Lex almost walked in on him trying to murder Tess Mercer. The redhead might not be dead but Regan considered himself lucky that his employer had either not heard of his deal with Martin Keamy or simply didn't know the full facts.

Apparently Tess had played her cards close to the chest and kept silent. In a way, it relieved him but he knew deep down that she still was a threat and would have to be taken care of sooner rather than later. Just... not now, it wasn't the right time.

He was heading towards the elevators when he noticed the doors to Mercer's office being wide open. Inside, he caught sight of the woman in question and another one in dark clothes followed by two large goons in un-tailored suits, radio links poking out of their ears. The handguns attached to their hips gave away their allegiance as Regan's eye identified the weapons as _FN Five-Sevens _.

_Secret Services! _He realized. There was a fuss in her office and Regan saw Tess being escorted out, he dashed towards the closest wall, hiding himself in a narrow corridor. Fortunately, the group had decided to take the stairs instead of the elevators, they wouldn't notice him.

Immediately relaxing, it took a little while for his brain to catch up. _Wait! Where are they going? And why the hell would Mercer get involved with the Government? _

He raced towards the other end of the floor, crossing every room which, thankfully were all empty at this time of the day, until he pressed himself against the glass of the window. Looking down, he caught the glimpse of a black SUV parked in front of the back door. From the fortieth floor, everything looked tiny and Regan had squint his eyes to notice Tess and the three agents climbing into the car before it disappeared into the streets of Metropolis.

He was left baffled wondering what the hell he had just witnessed.

* * *

**September 3rd 2009. 12:05 AM UTC-6. Undisclosed Location, Kansas, USA.**

She was oddly still now even as her eyes had been blindfolded and they had been driving for hours onto different kinds of roads. Tess, while being jumpy lately, decided to be positive and concentrate on the man she was leaving behind.

No remorse filled her, instead, there was a sense of freedom and relief washing over her at the knowledge that she was away from Lex. It was completely different from the heartbreak and pain that had followed her leaving Oliver. She had loved both men equally and been hurt by them and yet, she knew that associating herself with Lex had been a mistake.

Now that she had seen the real Lex, she realized that even in his worst moments Oliver was a much better man, no matter how resentful she was towards him. It didn't matter anymore, she realized. Waller was driving her towards a new and very different life, that she was sure of.

She spent the rest of the ride in silence, alone with her thoughts despite the two bodyguards plus Waller standing a mere foot away from her. It wasn't until another long hour that the car finally hitched up a steep path, the sound of tires rolling on dirt filling her ears. She instantly knew they had arrived.

And right she was, as the car soon came at a halt. Two car doors were opened and she felt weight leaving the vehicle as she imagined the driver and Waller got out. Seconds later, the two men at her sides were leaving too. One of them stayed by the door and helped her out.

"Watch the head, miss." he warned kindly, holding her hand as she climbed down.

"Thanks." she replied as her feet hit the ground.

"No problem, wait a second I'll get you rid of that." he said as he reached to the knot behind her head. The blindfold fell, revealing a large warehouse in the middle of the bushes. Its rusty metallic roof gave it an abandoned vibe that she assumed was purposely maintained.

Her eyes wandered over the obvious runway in front of the hangar. It looked suspiciously clean of dust and rubber, as if it was commonly used. She realized she was at a clandestine airfield. Tess was led through the backdoor into the building.

Inside, there were half a dozen of agents waiting for them with a plane on standby, a _Cessna Citation X _according to the board pinned to the back wall with the barrels of fuel.

"Regina is onsite, everyone pack up, we're leaving!" Waller howled, her orders were repeated by her direct subordinates, betraying the military structure of the group. All of the agents started to prepare the plane and do their various tasks without another glance her way.

All but one. Among them, a woman stayed in her spot, staring intently at Tess. She recognized the familiar face right away, shock filtering through her calm composure. "You!" she exclaimed.

The woman approached her, smirking as Waller joined them. "Tess, this is Agent Anaa." Amanda introduced. "We are using codenames for ourselves, I'm the White Queen and we'll call you Agent Regina."

"Hello, _Tess _. I guess meeting you again is nice." Anaa smirked. The redhead was about to retort something when Waller intervened.

"Ah!" she warned, pinning Anaa with a glare. "Teasing is not part of the rules agents. Even if you two are on a first name basis."

"Yes ma'am." Anaa acquiesced.

"Good." the White Queen nodded. "Agent Regina do you understand what your presence here implies?" she asked Tess.

She kept staring at Anaa for another moment before Waller's words registered in her mind. "I am part of the team, I suppose." she deduced.

"We are an extremely tight group," Waller's eyes narrowed at her. "Do not make me regret bringing you in, Agent. Do you understand me?"

Tess blinked at the sudden change of attitude of Waller. "Yes ma'am." she said, figuring she was finally seeing the real White Queen and hoping that she wouldn't meet another Lex Luthor wannabe.

"Make no mistake about us, Agent Regina, you are with us until the end. Only death ends our arrangement." The older woman warned her. "We are expected to fulfil our tasks or die trying. This is your life now."

Tess nodded frenetically. "I understand ma'am." she said, her voice higher than intended.

That didn't displease Waller overall who, upon seeing the light dawn into the redhead's eyes, smiled coldly. "In that case," she extended a hand. "Welcome to the Suicide Squad."

* * *

**And I've laid all the groundwork with this chapter. Everything's out of the bag, we can fully progress into the plot. Dark times ahead and we won't see the light for some time now. Any guesses as to what happens next? :)**


	5. Chapter 5: A World of Madness

**Chapter 5: A World of Madness**

* * *

**_Warning: disturbing revelations. Obviously you already all knew about that plot-twist but I'm being careful here._**

* * *

_'It's not really trust if you ask someone to explain themselves.' Chloe Sullivan, Season 10, Episode 12: "Collateral" _

* * *

**September 4th 2009. 02:48 AM UTC-6. Luthor Mansion, Smallville, Kansas, USA.**

The light of the hand-lit fire in the chimney shone through his glass. Flesh-colored shapes drew themselves on his face, giving him a mask to hide his thoughts with. Lex sat glumly into his armchair, a thousand-yard stare filling his eyes.

Two hesitant knocks on the doors made him blink. His ears picked up the sounds of someone quietly walking towards him. Lex didn't bother looking away from the fire and took another sip of his scotch.

Dress shoes scuffed against the dark-brown tiled floor, the noise slicing through the heavy silence of the house. "Sir?"

Lex remained forbidden. His hand rocked the glass back and forth, swirling the amber liquid within it as he admired the flames dancing together in front of him. "Did you find her?" he asked eventually.

Regan cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, sir. We did everything we could."

The irritated sigh leaving the bald man's throat didn't surprise him. "Keep looking." Lex ordered, taking another sip.

Behind his back, Regan took another step forward. He couldn't quite hide the hints of a smile on his face and found himself relieved when his boss wouldn't turn around. "We've been looking for hours, Mr. Luthor. I don't think..."

"Keep looking!" Lex's voice rose. "You're not here to think, Regan, you're here to obey. Keep looking!"

The billionaire's right-hand nodded frenetically. "I understand sir." he said in defeat even though he made no move to leave, prompting Lex to sigh again.

"Anything else?"

There was another moment of silence. Regan shifted on his feet, obviously gathering his courage. "Sir... what if we don't find her?"

Lex's head twitched. He dropped his glass onto the small table at his side. Regan had to inhale deeply before expanding his musings. "What is going to happen to the company? She was the one in charge and-"

"How dare you?" Lex sneered, rising to meet his subordinate face to face for the first time. "She hasn't been gone for a full day yet and you bring this up." he glared at Regan. "I knew you simply couldn't give up that thought."

"Sir..."

Lex had grasped the lapels of his jackets and flattened him onto the billiard table in one dazing move. "I do _not _want to hear another word from you!" he seethed, pressing the man harder. "You find Tess Mercer, I need her! Do you understand me, Regan?"

A snide laugh made a shiver crawl up Lex's spine. The young businessman found himself unable to do anything but listen to the familiar cackle as his brain tried to come up with a rational logic behind the source of his stupefaction. Regan's clear confusion was noticed by the billionaire who ignored it, his focus was elsewhere.

Lex turned over slowly, watching in disbelief a third man standing by the fireplace. His long curly hair dancing mid-air as he shook his head in a mocking manner. His cynical grin overshadowing the patronizing glint of his eyes as he stood at his spot, dressed in a classy business-suit.

"_Lusting after another woman you can't have... this is sad, son. Very sad."_ The sinister timber of his voice filled his ears.

"Dad?"

"_Oh, so don't I get the right to have a hug?"_ he extended his arms wide. _"I understand the circumstances are different, you threw me out of the fortieth floor window the last time we had some... father and son bonding time." _

Lionel paused, watching the incomprehension on his son's face. "You're dead." Lex said in wonder.

His father chuckled. _"Courtesy of yours, I believe." _he retorted, grinning. _"The best decision you ever made by my book. You never did anything the half way, son." _

Regan watched his employer move in the center of the room, seemingly intrance. "You came back to haunt me, didn't you?" the bald man continued in his delirium.

"_Oh Lex,"_ Lionel gave him a desperate look. _"I came back to put you on the right path again." _

The corners of Lex's mouth jerked. "Like you tried last time?" he shot back. "I don't know if you realize thatbut you being dead screams to me that you lost that battle."

Lionel snorted. _"Do not believe what I told you then, Lex." _he replied. _"I was a delusional old man too enticed with Clark Kent to see the truth. I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen to you too." _

It was Lex's time to snicker. "Trust me, dad, I've been doing just fine on my own against Clark."

"_My poor son..."_ Lionel pitied sympathetically, approaching him. _"You're too caught up in her that you don't see what is going on. This isn't about Clark, it is about the last woman you shared your bed with." _

Lex took a step back, looking at him in contempt. "What about Tess?"

His father shook his head. _"Lex... Lex... Lex..." _he sighed. _"I know we, Luthors, are inspired by the Roman mythology but that's taking it a bit too far, don't you think?" _

"What do you mean?" Lex took a defensive stance.

"_Son, come on..."_ Lionel grinned. _"Do you really think you're in love? With Lutessa of all women?" _

"How I feel and what goes on in my life is none of your business." Lex seethed. "It hasn't been for nine years!"

Lionel exhaled dramatically. _"I am not here to give you a lecture but rather to open your eyes, Lex! She left you and now you're moody and moping in your corner while you should be out there and prepare your next move. Stand up son! You have a campaign to lead for Christ's sake!" _

Lex studied his father intendedly, pondering his words until another voice surprised them both. _"Do not listen to him, Alexander." _

His body relaxed in her presence as he watched the tall redhead gracefully walk down the stairs of the mezzanine, a frown on her face directed at her ex-husband. "Mother, you are... beautiful." he whispered.

"_And there she is!"_ Lionel sneered. _"The root of the problem! Do not let yourself be overwhelmed, Lex! She isn't here to help you!" _

"_Do not talk to him!"_ Lillian shouted. _"You've done enough damage as it is." _her face softened as she looked at her son whose eyes never left her _. "Alexander, sleeping with Tess was a mistake." _

He frowned.

"_A point we agree on, for once."_ Lionel smiled at her charmingly. _"We may not have lost our spark after all." _

Lillian glared at him. _"Give up, Lionel, I learned from my mistakes." _she said. _"It's bad enough that you destroyed our family, now our son has slept with your daughter and you brush it off as if it were nothing!" _

Lex's analytic brain came back and he found himself watching the exchange between his two parents with a critical eye.

"_Oh don't lay the blame on my doorstep, Lillian!"_ Lionel said indignantly. _"you're the reason he did this, it's because she looks so much like you and she's doing the same thing you tried to do, she tries to pull him away from his destiny!" _

"_What destiny?"_ Lillian countered. _"The one where he becomes the ruler of a dead world? Is this really the life you want him to live? Don't you think he should think of his happiness first?" _

Lionel scoffed, brushing her off. _"You never had that sense of ambition," _he said. _"Without me, Lex would be nothing!" _

Lillian looked shocked and was going to yell back at him when Lex's voice cut them apart. He stood at his spot, his eyes going from one to another. "I'm watching my two dead parents fight over my future and the only I can think about is why my brain decided I needed to picture you both." he said in wonder.

The grin on Lionel's lips was that of his real father in his proud moments. _"He already figured everything out." _he told Lillian. _"Who else would you have wanted to see instead? Clark and Lana, perhaps? or... maybe... Duncan Allenmayer and Oliver Queen? Hm?" _

Lex locked gazes with him for a moment before he laughed. "You clearly are an illusion, the real Lionel Luthor would have been on his knees already, begging me to give up the White House."

"_I was such a shadow of myself, wasn't I?"_ Lionel grinned. _"You are correct, as ever, Lex. I am part of you, I am watching over you now..." _

"_Lex! Lex!"_ Lillian shouted as she started to fade into nothingness. _"Do not listen to him! You aren't past the point of no return yet!" _

Lionel grabbed Lex's chin forcefully. _"Do not look at her!" _he ordered. _"Your influence on him is long gone, my dear!" _he called over his shoulder as she disappeared into the air. _"She can't stir you away from what belongs to you anymore." _

"I'm not giving up on Tess either." Lex warned.

His father grinned, shaking his head. _"Fine, if you want to keep your sister in your bed then go for it but do not let it disturb you from your goal." _He put a warm hand on his shoulder. _"I only have your best interests at heart, son. Do you believe me when I tell you that I love you?" _

Lex hugged him. "I love you, dad." he replied quietly.

Lionel stared at Regan witnessing the entire scene. _"Good, now put this man, here at the head of Luthorcorp and if you insist then you have more than enough men to lead the team looking for Lutessabut keep you head clear." _He brushed his shoulders and shook him lightly. _"You have an election to win. Go show the world what a Luthor is capable of. Make me proud, son." _

"I will, dad. I will."

Regan stood back, uneasiness filling him as he watched his employer hug himself and talk to someone he couldn't see. This was the moment he realized that Lex Luthor might not have overcome his mental issues after all. A part of him knew he should disassociate himself from such an unstable manbut the truth was that he had a feeling Mercer wasn't coming back.

That left the seat of CEO vacant at Luthorcorp and made him the next worthy person able to fill it. He wouldn't let that opportunity fly out of the window. A part of him was aware that despite anything, his loyalty belonged to Lex Luthor and he would stick with the man through thick and thin.

Mentally ill or not, Lex Luthor would be the next president of the United States of America and Regan would stand by him and at the head of Luthorcorp when that happened.

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 07:59 AM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"_Terrible news from the city of Metropolis in Kansas-_

… _it seems like a series of gruesome murders have been carried out, counting seven victims..._

_...The local police have opened an investigation with official FBI support... _

_...The suspect is- _

_-it always happen by nightfall, there are always witnesses around and we have been sent footage of the different attacks which, of course, CNN will not broadcast for obvious reasons... _

_...the murderer seems to be on a killing spree and Josh Revson here, will help us cast a light on his actions. Josh, what is your prognosis? _

_-Well, Carrie, I would label him a pathological and psychopathic killer. I think it's clear that he is unable to help himself, the urge to take away someone's life may be a way for him to express his feelings about the world. _

_-Do you mean that he literally is taking his anger out on these poor people? _

_-Yes, absolutely. Something must have triggered him to murder innocent people, what exactly, we won't know until he is caught and identified. _

_-And You are right to talk about identification, Josh because we have just received an official confirmation from the police of Metropolis that they are indeed targeting the vigilante known as... The Green Arrow." _

_The Green Arrow. _

_The Green Arrow. _

In the span of a few hours, Oliver saw his world fall apart. The national and international television networks were being bombarded with the latest information of what most referred to as _The Green Arrow Case, Hero or Bandit? _

He could feel the gazes of his friends all looking at him and he didn't dare to look up. It had been a week since his fallout at work. A feat which had remained his exclusive secret since then. His friends had shrugged the whole thing off after he had apologizedbut Chloe had been looking at him anxiously ever since.

Oliver knew she was waiting for him to explain what had happened this night and despite her patience, it was obvious that her mind was angst-clogged and came up with thoughts getting worse with each passing minute as he remained mute on the matter . He could see it in her eyes, the doubts starting to appear, the hope that he would soon man up and tell her everything.

It killed him every time he had to look into her eyes but now... it was different. The silence that fell upon them was deafening as the TV still played in the background, the journalists caught in their frenzy, spouting horrifying theories about his alter ego.

The world once saw a hero in the Green Arrow, now he was a monster. It was hard to stomach like anything that could attain someone's reputation. Yet, the looks his friends were giving now belonged to entirely different level of despair.

Victor kept his shock contained and looked at him in a calm manner just as everybody would expect while AC's eyes narrowed at him, trying to decipher the truth from his face. Dinah was openly suspicious towards him and Bart stared at his idol in hope that it wasn't real.

The worst was Chloe. The light in her eyes died along with each and every word flowing out of the TV. He could see the fear in her pupils and the doubts being confirmed, the sorrow at knowing that the man she loved was accused of being a serial-killer and did nothing to deny these accusations.

The striking irony in this situation was that in the midst of all these doubts and fears around him, Oliver found relief and even, anger. The Green Arrow was a murderer and yet, he felt freer than ever before. His friends were missing facts that he refused to give them and he knew, he would have to do this on his own.

"Ollie?" came Chloe's vulnerable voice. His heart squeezed painfully, he nearly had to bring his hand over his chest.

He stared at her, his eyes wide, the tears in her own threatened to fall. He wished he could do something to reassure her, to tell her that everything was alrightbut he couldn't.

Instead, he ran. "OLIVER!" came her screams, he could hear her sobs. She had reached her breaking point. Because of him, she deserved better than him, he would never stop letting her down.

And so he left. Behind, Bart was too stunned to even think about running after his fleeing mentor. AC fell down on the ground, disconcerted. Dinah, however, had tried to run after him but was too far behind to catch him.

She came back to find Victor comforting Chloe while AC and Bart were still caught in their trance. She sighed. How could things turn so bad in so little time?

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 06:24 PM UTC-6. Isis Foundation, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"Damn it!" Chloe pounded on the desk, making her cup of coffee bounce off. She looked down to see the liquid spilling onto the ground. Her tears came back, filling her eyes as the tight hold she had on her emotions started to thin.

"Chloe." Victor rubbed a hand on her back. "Go rest, I'll handle Watchtower for an hour."

"No. I need to do this." she insisted.

Victor sighed. "Fine but I'll assist you here." he said as he fitted himself into the small room. They ignored the stained ground and focused on their screens. The Isis Foundation wasn't the most comfortable of places for the entire league to work in at the same timebut it was by far the most advanced one on a technological level.

They needed its powerful computers to try and clear the blur surrounding the whole sordid case of Oliver's murders. In the room itself, the mood was just as bad as the lack of results coming up. Bart had been too shaken by Oliver's flight that Victor had sent him to secure the old MetGen building which was currently being squatted by vagabonds and hookers despite the dangerous levels of radiations around.

Chloe herself was only holding up through her work. She had done a wonderful job at looking for answersbut all her efforts had been rewarded by the complete deception coming up empty-handed.

She ran a hand over her face and cast a tired glance at the man at her side, working on a laptop. "Vic..."

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

She hesitated. "Do you think he's done it?" she asked, looking away. He was always the most rational person in their group and his tendency to be bluntly honest was exactly what she needed at the moment. He wouldn't try to spare her feelings. She wanted to know what he thought, not to be reassured.

The cyborg sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

Chloe's throat closed up, she was unable to speak and instead, simply nodded. "Alright." he acquiesced. "There is no evidence that he did these crimes." he started. "Sure it was the Green Arrow and that should be a dead give-away but honestly, someone could have copied the suit and started to kill people to discredit Oliver."

Her eyes widened. "You really think that?"

"I never said that." he shook his head before swallowing at the look on her face. "Sorry. What I'm really saying is that everything points to Oliver being the murderer but if we look deeper into the picture, there is no proof that he did it too. So... I admit that I'm really clueless there."

"But he ran away." Dinah blurted out as she appeared behind Chloe. "Like you said Vic, there are too many things pointing to him. I hate being a bitch therebut it can't be a coincidence." she said.

Chloe didn't turn aroundbut Victor could see the anger on her face as she tried to ignore Dinah's words and focus back on her work. "Dinah..." he started.

"Listen," The Black Canary cut him off. "It all started the night he left work without alerting Bart. You said yourself that he told you guys he needed a break because he was under pressure. Maybe he snapped." she theorised. "Maybe he didn't even know he was responsible for those murders until this morning. The shock must have been too much to handle and he just ran."

"Dinah.." Chloe's voice was dangerously low. "Shut up... _please _."

The other blonde's eyebrows went up. "I'm sorry Chloe but you guys need to realize that Oliver isn't as perfect as he seems to be." she argued. "I came into the team knowing that he had a dangerous edge too and I don't blame him for it, I'm just trying to find answers."

"Okay, okay." came Chloe's irritated voice. "He's not Mister Perfect, we get it. Now could you leave us, alone?" she exclaimed as she turned around and glared at the taller woman.

Dinah sighed. "Sorry but... I know I'm right, I don't believe in coincidence and the sooner you realize that, the sooner we'll be able to get some work done." she said as she walked out of the room to join AC in another one.

Chloe huffed and started after her until Victor caught her arm. "Leave it." he said. "She may be harsh but she's got a point. Oliver has a dark side, too."

"What, you think I don't know that?" she snapped.

"Chloe," he gave her a calming gesture. "I'm not the enemy here, I'm simply stating facts. Like I said, my mind is not made up yet."

She sighed and plopped down on her chair. "I know..." she whispered as she felt a few tears slipping down her cheeks. "I just realized that there's so many things I don't know about him." she said, her voice wavering. "I love him, but what if he loses himself in that dark part of himself and never comes back to be the Oliver I know? What happens then?"

"Chloe..."

"I thought he was cheating on me." she said all of a sudden, taking him aback. She laughed humorlessly. "He was being distant since that night and I knew there was something he was hiding from me. He knew that too. I was waiting for him to tell me when he was ready..." she rubbed the tears away. "But it never came and then I thought... I thought he was having an affair. Turns out it's worse than that after all."

"Hey, listen." he dropped a hand on her forearm. "Ollie's one of my best friends," he started. "And even if I wasn't around when he was with Tess, I know for a fact that he never loved her like he loves you. Not Tess, not Lois and not even any other woman. He wouldn't do that to you because you're not them," he smiled slightly. "In the team we have a kind of runningjoke about you two, we always say that you're the love of his life because we've never seen happier than when you're around." he swallowed. "I might be a cheesy guy, I'll admit but I always thought that we were right actually."

Chloe hid her face in her hands, her shoulders starting to shake. Victor sighed. "I'm not really helping, am I?"

To her surprise, she let out a small laugh. "Not really..." she smiled through her tears. "I just want to get him back and have him telling us that he didn't do it."

"So do I." he nodded. "I hate to crush your hopes thoughbut I think we have to follow that old saying, you know, _'Hope for the best but prepare for the worst' _."

She looked down, nodding weakly. "Yeah... Yeah..."

"Guys!" An excited voice startled them.

AC crossed the doorway to the office and walked quickly in their directions, branding his cellphone as Dinah followed, hot on his heels. "I think I know where we can find him."

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 08:30 PM UTC-6. Suicide Slums, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Lex took a deep breath and prepared himself to walk onto the stage. He had managed to get what would look like to everyone else as an improvised meeting after the revelations concerning Oliver Queen's alter ego.

He needed to anchor the uncertainty of the Americans and it started today in Metropolis with the drama that would happen to him in a few moments. There was nothing more malleable than a frightened population. These people didn't need to know the underhanded tactics Lex was deploying to get their votes. He was doing what was necessary, it was for their good.

Nobody would understand him if he revealed everything. They were all naïve and narrow-minded without a great leader. He would be that man, in a few months. Then there would be no more misguided young men or women on the war path against him because they saw him as 'evil'.

Lex preferred to call himself a pragmatist. He was evil yes, but a necessary one.

Already, the crowd of – mostly bribed – supporters were chanting his name and it set him into motion. He travelled up the short stairs and landed onto the stage, waving at the people amassing in front of him. Some of them were branding signs with pictures of him and his slogans.

_'Lex Luthor: The Man of Tomorrow' _

_'Act For A Brighter Future' _

Or even: _'Luthor: Bald but Ballsy' _

He smirked. Uninspired but efficient, that was the way he wanted it. As long as it worked he wouldn't question his Public Relations staff.

He gave them a few moments to quiet down and smiled charmingly as he waved at the crowd. Lex would have wanted Tess by his side to get the most conservative minds to shut up about him not being a 'family man' and not even being married or in a stable relationship. Sadly, she was gone and as much as it angered him, he needed to go on without her.

His team would find her, he repeated to himself, he would find her at the right time. She may be his half-sister by bloodbut there was no doubt in his mind that she would be a perfect partner in his life. The ones who took her would suffer. No one attacked a Luthor and came out unscathed.

Silence came down and he adjusted the microphones in front of him. His eyes went over the large crowd, he smirked.

"I may sound arrogant and despicable but..." he paused for effect. "I told you so."

Clamor engulfed him and people cheered until he raised a hand. "I alerted each and everyone of you of the danger this so-called 'hero' that is The Green Arrow represents." he said, loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "Sadly it took the lives of seven people for everyone to see things my way. My thoughts are with their families."

He was silent to appear respectful to said people before he went on. "We are going through dark times," he announced. "Be aware that the Green Arrow is only the beginning and I'm afraid that we will see more victims in the coming months. Prepare yourselves because you will have to be the ones to go up against these vigilantes. They have nothing to lose now, they will reveal themselves for what they truly are in due time: thieves, rapists and murderers."

The crowd booed at his words and Lex nodded. "I know, I know." he pacified. "We have to act, we have to stand up and I, as your chosen... _leader, _am standing here in front of you, despite the threats directed at my own person." he touched his chest.

Lex kept glancing discreetly towards the clock at his side. It was a long speech but in about half an hour, the people of the world would be comforted in their burgeoning beliefs. The seed of doubts meeting confirmation to end up in an explosive mix: fear.

"We cannot let them take control of us. We are Americans! It's in our blood to fight oppression! Against vigilantes! Against the Green Arrow! For freedom!" he shouted, galvanised by the crowd as they followed his lead.

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 08:54 PM UTC-6. Suicide Slums, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

AC shook his head as he pushed past more people gently. He couldn't believe the lies Lex kept spewing and how people could be so stupid. As soon as he had realized the billionaire was arranging for an impromptu meeting in the Slums, AC knew that Oliver would be around.

In his state of mind, it wascapital to stop his friend who could end up doing something he could not come back from. _Too late _, his mind supplied, _he already has killed _. He couldn't help the voice inside his head whispering to him that the Oliver he knew wouldn't have left this morning if he was innocent.

He wanted to believe that his friend wasn't a murdererbut there were too many things pointing at him. There was no doubt in his mind now, as much as it hurt to say it, he knew Oliver was too far gone. On that point he agreed with Dinah.

"_Aquaman."_ his communication link buzzed in his ear.

"Come in, Tower."

"_Do you see him?"_ AC felt horrible when he heard Chloe's breathy voice. The situation affected her the most for obvious reasons, he couldn't imagine her pain.

"Negative," he said. "I'm about to do another sweep but I don't think he's in the crowd."

"_I see something!"_ broke in Dinah's voice. _"Aquaman check out the roof of that red-brick building." _

He turned towards the edifice. The night was already therebut he could see a small shape poking out from its top, as if someone was lying there, watching. What sent his heart racing was the unmistakable outline of a hood, the Green Arrow's hood.

"There's movement!" he said as he hurried towards the building.

"_Need back-up?"_ Victor asked from his seat at the Isis Foundation.

"_I think we can handle it."_ Dinah said.

"Canary, you take the front?" AC proposed.

"_'Kay, be careful."_

He didn't reply, he was too focused on his task to do so. Adrenaline was pumping in his veins as he cracked open the back door and started to run up the stairs. The building was larger than it looked. As far as he could tell, it was empty and squalid which wasn't that surprising considering they were in the middle of the poorest neighborhood in Metropolis.

Lex had had to convince the mayor to send half of the police here to ensure everyone's safety. It usually was a dangerous place to be at this time of the day.

AC kept trotting up every step until voices reached his ears. He froze. They were faintbut he was pretty sure he had heard Oliver talking. A loud crash onto the upper floors startled him.

"You heard that?" he asked in a whisper.

"_No,"_ Dinah replied through the radio. _"What's going on?" _

"Never mind." he murmured as he picked up his pace and moved towards the sound of at least two people fighting.

The Atlantean had reached another floor when the voices could be heard again. This time, he could decipher some of their words.

_I don't know who you are... _the first one sounded like an exhausted Oliver. _You're just a kid, did he send you here? Is that because of my oath? Talk to me! _

There was more fighting going on, AC could hear the blows being exchanged before another crash followed. _Give up! _Oliver said again. _You're not strong enough, what do you want?! _

For the first time, another breathy voice filled AC's ears. _Remember Panam á , friend? _

AC frowned when he heard nothing but silence. He was about to climb up to the last floor when the sound of glass being shattered could be heard. Outside, the crowd yelled in surprise and the distinct sound of a body crashing onto the ground surprised him.

He rushed towards the closest window, freezing onspot when he noticed Oliver's figure trying to stand up in vain from the ground as the crowd approached him hesitantly. His Green Arrow attire hid his identitybut it may have been his downfall for, AC watched in horror as several members of the crowd started to kick him.

"CANARY!" he screamed as a swarm of people surrounded Oliver whose cries of pain went over the excited yells of the crowd. AC noticed Lex watching the scene with interest and mild-surprise from afar.

He didn't think twice, instead, he jumped, well-intent on saving him. It was at that same moment, as he flew through the air that AC swore he heard footsteps running the other way from the upper floor. It was too late to investigate.

He found Dinah neutralizing several people with her supersonic scream as he punched a few of them, sending them reeling away from Oliver long enough to hoist the unconscious man onto his shoulder and sprint away from this mob of raging civilians fuelled by Lex's speeches of fear and hate.

"I've got him!" he shouted both to his companion and to the rest of them at Isis. "I've got him!"

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 10:12 PM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Later that evening, the League found themselves in a situation all too familiar to their liking. They were all reunited at the Clocktower. AC and Dinah had managed to extract Oliver from the risky situation he had been caught in while Victor and Chloe rushed towards the penthouse to greet them here as Bart had been tasked to bring Emil there.

They watched the doctor tend to a battered and still out Oliver who had been stripped from his gear and – despite Chloe's protests – attached to the bed so he couldn't hurt anybody. The man lying down there, receiving Emil's care barely looked like the young and healthy man that was Oliver Queen.

Instead, his face was horribly bruised and inflated while his chest was peppered with cuts, scratches and even more bruises. The physicist had diagnosed that his condition was serious and might need proper medical attention.

"He has at least three broken ribs, maybe more," Emil listed as he touched his chest lightly. "I don't like the way he's breathing, he might have perforated his lung..." he added clinically. "His heart is still beating too fast but I'm more worried about the blow he had gotten to the back of the head."

Emil hummed and scratched his cheek. "If he doesn't wake up in ten minutes I'm bringing him in. Suspicious or not, I won't let him die because we're afraid that people might find out his identity."

Chloe's entire body was trembling. She had her arms wrapped around herself as she nodded at the doctor. "Thank you, Emil." she whispered.

He gave them a small smile. "It's the third time we find him in this situation in less than a year," he said. "I hope that's not a record any of you will try to break in the future." he teased.

The young heroes stood motionless as they gazed down at the blond man on the bed. Emil sobered up. "Excuse me." he said quietly. "The situation is serious but I feel that there's more than that to your mood, am I right?"

Bart glanced at him for a moment until the older man noticed. The speedster evaded his eyes, leading to Emil heaving a sigh of reflection. "You all think he's guilty." he stated.

"No!" Chloe denied vehemently, taking a step away from the group towards the doctor.

Emil nodded. "I understand you, Chloe." he smiled warmly. "Your connection to Oliver is different."

"Don't patronize me—" she started, annoyed.

"Oh no!" Emil interrupted her. "I'm on your side. Oliver didn't do the horror he's accused of, this is my deepest conviction."

Dinah raised an eyebrow. "Know something we don't, doc?"

He shook his head. "I don'tbut I met him at a bad time in his life and I saw his violent side." he started. "Let me tell you that I never felt he could kill anyone even in the mood he was in at the time. Oliver Queen is a good man." he stood up from his chair. "He needs your support, not your accusations."

"No offense but," Dinah shot back. "you really don't know what he's capable of."

"Enough!" Chloe shouted, glaring at the other woman. "Are you done being a bitch, or what? What's got you so mad at Ollie? He did nothing but helping you, all of you guys for years and when he needs you the most, you all turn a blind eye!" she went on. "You owe him the benefit of the doubt, at least!"

"Well-said." AC spoke up, earning himself an incredulous glance from Dinah. "Chill out Di,"

"I thought you agreed with me."

"I did." AC nodded. "I was stupid but I know the truth now. Ollie's being framed."

* * *

**_And we're almost halfway into this fic now. Quick, huh?_**  
**_The situation with Oliver will get much clearer next chapter. Until then, hang onto that small hope I've given you! :)_**

**_PS: Yes, Lex is completely nuts!_**


	6. Chapter 6: The Depths of Your Mind

**Chapter 6: The Depths of Your Mind**

* * *

_'So there's a chance this night stalker isn't Oliver.' - Clark Kent, Season 9, Episode 10: "Disciple"_

* * *

**September 8th 2009. 10:17 PM UTC-6. Clocktower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"What would Ollie do in Panamà?"

That was the question on everyone's mind after AC recounted his adventure and the conversation he had overheard while they went looking for their leader. His words had lifted the spirits of the team as it implied that Oliver wasn't the one responsible for those horrible murders.

The reasons of his flight remained obscure, leaving the seeds of doubt hampering their hopes as Dinah persisted to rule Oliver as dangerous. Chloe, herself, had felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest. The fact that she had even been skeptic of his innocence at one point made her sick to her stomach.

"I don't know, Bart." she brushed her hair out of her face. "We need to know if he even made it there to begin with or if it's something that happened remotely or even if it's real. For all we know that bow-totting masquerader may be toying with him."

"What if it's revenge?" Dinah crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe Ollie did something to that guy to piss him off."

Chloe glared at her. "You really can't let it go, can you?"

The guys, sensing that her outburst would soon set off the tension between the two women, went to prevent a fight. Victor was about to step up when a sudden cry startled them. At the other side of the room, Oliver was moving frantically in his bed. Emil was by his side in a moment, trying to calm him.

"Why is it dark? Why is it dark?!" he repeated over and over.

"Ollie..." Chloe appeared at his side.

"It's okay, Oliver." Emil held the other man down. "You're okay, you're safe. We know you didn't commit those murders."

The young hero never stopped rubbing his hands over his face. "What is it?" Chloe pressed softly, seeing his dismay.

Oliver burst into tears. "I'm sorry kid, I'm sorry..."

They frowned as he kept crying. "He's in shock." Emil concluded before a thoughtful expression came over his face. He waved a hand over Oliver's face and prompted him to open his eyes.

The latter, through his tears, did as he was asked and looked unfocused in front of him before blacking out. "Ollie, no!" Chloe cried.

"He's out again." The doctor frowned.

"Shit, man! What was that?" Bart exclaimed behind them.

"His brain is still in a trauma but I'm confident that will go away soon." Emil explained, his soothing tone pacifying the younger man. "The good news is that his lungs are perfectly fine unlike my earlier predictions but..."

"What?" Chloe asked.

Emil shook his head and pulled out a small light from his pocket, checking under Oliver's eyelids. He sighed. "I think he's blind."

* * *

Chloe crossed the corridor staring blankly ahead at the door left ajar. It had been twenty minutes since Emil found out Oliver lost his sight. The shock hadn't even lifted yet and she couldn't let her emotions get in the way. Not when she needed to know exactly what happened to the man she loved.

She went into his office, leaving her friends behind to tend him. Oliver had gone back to sleep and seemed to have calmed down. Emil wanted to have him transferred to MetGen to scan his skull and check if their wounded hero wasn't nursing a greater trauma.

The situation was complicated. Sending Oliver Queen to hospital again would raise too many questions. Even if they had been discreet the last few times, some people had necessarily been let in on the secret. The more people knew, the greater the danger.

She sat down in his chair, its large size and leather comforting her shaking limbs. Chloe pursed her lips until they went white and shook her head. _I need to hold it together, _she repeated herself, _emotions won't help right now... later... later. _

Her hand went for the top drawer where he usually kept his laptop. As she lifted the computer out, an official document caught her attention. Curiosity being one of her main attributes, she reached for the stack of papers inside.

There was a small note Oliver had written on the top. The words she read made her freeze.

_'Dayton, I need you to start a procedure under the wraps. Joined with this letter is the original property deed of a building I just bought anonymously. I want to keep it secret from my friends until I can find a time to tell them. _

_I just want to be cautious. I trust you to transmit these papers along with the keys to Chloe Sullivan in case something happens to me before I can tell them. _

_I owe you one. Thanks.' _

She blinked the tears away from her eyes and turned the page. It revealed that he had purchased an entire tower in downtown Metropolis just two weeks earlier. There was one words written on the top left corner of the page which drew her eyes: _'Watchtower' _

Her mind recalled the moments when they both had complained about the Isis Foundation being too small for the team, that they should find another place. Most of the time they referred to this jokingly even if the evidence was glaring but they never came to a serious talk on the matter.

To know that he intended to keep this a surprise for her and the team made it much harder for her contain the sobs threatening so leave her throat. She sniffled quietly, rubbing her eyes. Scolding herself for breaking her rule, she kept repeating her mantra and took a deep breath.

Oliver's thoughtfulness couldn't have been more perfectly timed. She knew what she needed to do, now.

* * *

Two rooms away from Chloe, AC sent one last glance to his unconscious friend before he turned to the woman at his side whose face was devoid of emotions as she looked down at Oliver.

He came up to her side. "We need to talk." he slipped into her ear and grabbed her arm before she had a chance to reply.

Leaving without making a scene, Dinah forcefully got her arm out of his grasp the moment the door to the guest bedroom closed. "What the hell, AC?" she snapped.

The young man exhaled in exasperation, rubbing his temples as he invaded her personal space. Dinah turned her head away and sighed. "I know being rough is a turn onbut you really should practice your approach." she said. "Besides... now is not a good time."

"This isn't about us." he told her sternly, watching her surprised expression for a moment. "Why are you so hard on Ollie?"

Her brow furrowed. "What you think I still got my crush on him?" she huffed. "That's long gone, I told you."

AC leaned forward. "Then why? Why, Dinah?"

"I thought I was clear." she shrugged. "I'm being objective. I know we all are close to Ollie but if none of us can see things clearly we'll go straight for the wall."

"He's family." AC stressed.

She gulped at the look on his face, dropping her hands on his chest delicately. "I know." she said, finding comfort in the warmth of his body. "but I can't make any exceptions, not even for family."

He looked down for a moment. "Would you..." Licking his lips, he met her gaze with a troubled one. "What if it were me? Would you make an exception too?"

Dinah's mouth parted as if to say somethingbut she closed it immediately and swallowed hard. AC had to take a step back as she evaded his eyes guiltily.

"Okay..." he whispered, closing his eyes.

"Orin?" she murmured fearfully.

"You want to be objective, I get it." he said. "That's your thing."

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Di." AC cut her off. "We had a great time but... I thought we were on the same page and clearly, we're not."

Her eyes shone. "What are you..."

"It's over, Dinah." he clenched his fists at his sides. "I didn't want this to end but it has to. Sorry." he said finally, heading for the door.

Dinah was unable to say anything as he left. She kept the tears at bay but shifted, uncoordinated on her feet. The bedside lamp filled her sight, her frustration and pain sent it flying into the wall. It shattered but not loud enough for her taste.

"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath and sat down on the bed, her face falling into her hands.

* * *

**September 10th 2009. 02:16 AM UTC-6. Warehouse n°68, Industrial Park, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

The gate jiggled on its wheel-track, emitting a high-pitched rattling noise echoing through the dark nothingness mass of the construct. Lex looked around, closely followed by his bodyguards while he walked further inside only to come to a halt a few yards shy of the center spot.

"Show yourself!" he barked. "Unlike you I'm on a tight schedule, I cannot afford to lose time. Remember who brought you here."

Moments later, two boots scuffing against the dirty cement of the ground could be heard. In front of Lex, a shadowy figure came out of the darkness. His bow and arrows poked out of his back as his hood was pushed back.

As he marched, the green leather caught a ray of moonlight, eliciting a smirk out of him. "You can't blame me for being cautious, Luthor." the man's thick accent rasped against his ear.

Lex lifted his chin. "After what happened at my meeting, I expect you to be twice as cautious." he replied. "I want to know everything."

The man nodded briefly. "I was going to shoot you when Queen came in, in full gear." he related, rubbing his stinting jaw. "I don't know how he knew but we ended up fighting... then I found a way to push him out of the window."

"Yes, I saw." The billionaire replied coldly. "I also saw his friends coming at his rescue and you were nowhere to be seen."

The Green Arrow swallowed soundly. "Mr. Luthor-"

"It's perfect." Lex interrupted, his words chilling the air.

"Excuse me?"

"I couldn't have dreamed of a better evening." He boasted. "Seeing Oliver Queen as Green Arrow fall down that house and be helped by his teammates in the middle of my meeting... it set off the people." he said. "It proves there are more vigilantes backing him and that's what they are afraid of. This is the perfect opportunity to carry on."

Lex retrieved a large picture from his pocket, giving it to the man in front of him. "This is Kansas' District Attorney, Kenneth Kogan." he presented. "He will be in Topeka for the month. I want him dead before Friday, next week."

The Green Arrow jerked his head up. "A problem?" Lex prompted.

"Um, no..."

The billionaire's expression turned to one of disdain and exasperation. "You want to know if he has children, don't you?" he guessed as the man nodded slowly. "He's a careerist." Lex simply said.

His hired killer looked down at the picture in his hands for a moment before rising to meet his gaze. "Okay."

Lex turned on his heels and started to walk towards the exit. His first bodyguard drew the gate open once more, revealing a black sedan waiting outside. "Oh, Merlyn!" he called.

The Green Arrow looked up. " _Jefe _?"

"Make him suffer," he said over his shoulder. "I want his fear to show on his face for the camera."

"Okay." The man agreed.

Satisfied, the candidate walked away firmly, boarding the vehicle.

* * *

**September 14th 2009. 05:49 AM UTC-6. Watchtower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Chloe walked up the stairs of the silent open space they now called the Watchtower. Hours after she had discovered the property deed hidden in Oliver's office and his intention to give it to the team, Chloe had had Bart, Victor and Dinah set it up.

Their first decision was to create a medical facility inside in case of an emergency. Bart had to resort to stealing several corporate laboratories for equipment and she had promised herself to pay back the value of the stolen goods to the people it belonged to.

That night, they had all been on a hurry. Oliver needed to be cared for and hospital wasn't an option. Emil had been a great help in finding the right material and setting it up. Twelve hours later, the medical facility was up and running. It was fairly modestbut it did what Emil wanted to do to Oliver in priority.

The CT scan – a machine which had taken them an entire day to move – had revealed brain swelling in Oliver's skull that appeared to be disappearing on its own. It was a good newsbut it wasn't giving any assurancesconcerning their leader's damaged sight.

Chloe gently knocked on the door, opening it slightly. Inside, Emil groaned from his spot on the chair and ruffled his hair.

"Sorry." she froze. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay, I'm a light sleeper." Emil mumbled as he turned to check if Oliver's condition had changed. The blond man was still sleeping but had woken up on numerous occasions, his mind too groggy to be coherent.

Yet the whispered words he had slipped in her ear in one of those moments had warmed her heart. _'Sorry... sorry for running... didn't do it...' _Almost a week after the awful incidents, Chloe hated herself for ever doubting him. Whether it was his faithfulness or his innocence, the way she had seen him at that time had been shaken.

Here was a man who had come back from a terrifying future to save her from Doomsday. Driven by love, he had changed time and made the world a safer place by alerting the team of the true danger that represented Davis Bloome. Who knew how many people he had saved doing this? Millions, probably even billions.

How could she ever believe this hero to sneak out behind his friends' backs to commit random murders? He was under pressure, that much was true but it was something he was used to. Furthermore, Oliver Queen never had had any mental issues in his life and him snapping and going on a killing spree all of a sudden was a stupid thought her mind had supported for quite a while after he ran away.

"He's doing fine."

Chloe blinked, brought back to reality as Emil talked to her. He was sat at Oliver's bedside, checking his vitals. "Any improvements?" she held her breath.

"Yes, he's much more relaxed now." Emil smiled slightly. "I think the last time he woke up he realized he was safe."

"Oh." Chloe said, her gaze dropping.

The doctor sighed. "I won't be able to evaluate the full extent of the damage on his eyes until he wakes up." he turned to her. "The swelling is gone but we never know how the brain reacts to this kind of injury."

She nodded simply, drawing in a deep breath. Emil saw her doing so and moved her way. "Chloe, nothing says that he will stay blind for the rest of his life. Most of the time these things are temporary."

She looked up hopeful. "Are you sure?"

He made a face. "Nothing is certain in neurology but I would bet my apartment that he will overcome this." he smiled. "Oliver is a strong man, he's been through worse already."

"Thank you." she whispered as her gaze fell on the one her heart chose. "We wouldn't have made it through everything without you, Emil."

Emil shook his head, following her gaze. "You were the one to find me. I should be the one thanking you, you pulled me out of a very dull life after all." he smiled. "I wouldn't have been able to meet again with the man who saved me and my wife in that alley all these years ago. I wouldn't have been able to thank him."

She smiled sadly. "Story of this team." she said. "We all needed each other and that was why our paths crossed."

"And I'm very glad to have crossed paths with you, people." Emil replied. "You want to be alone with him?" he sensed.

She looked up. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all," he reassured as he headed for the door. "Take your time."

* * *

Chloe took Oliver's hand in hers, rubbing it lightly as she watched his peaceful expression. She reached and soothed his brow, smiling lightly as he relaxed even more. These were the best moments to her.

Asleep, all his masks slipped away. Gone were Oliver Queen, the businessman and Green Arrow, the vigilante. His true self came back and in these moments, there were no secrets.

Her expression fell. The truth was that Oliver had more secrets than he let on, ones he even kept from her. Chloe's researches these past few days had shown that he had gone missing for almost an entire year a couple of months after he came back from the island.

Nothing else proved that he had ever been to Panama. The closest he had been to the Central American country was Mexico for a couple of professional deals concerning Queen Industries.

Yet, during November 2000 to September 2001, Oliver Queen literally went off the grid. He couldn't be found. His last known location by the end of 2000 was Star City. The Board of Directors at Q.I. Had kept things under wraps as Oliver had left them a notice that he would come back and none of them wanted the news to be public to prevent any further embarrassment.

The media went unaware while other events happened all over the world. His comeback in September 2001 was overshadowed by the horrible World Trade Center attack and he made no move to get back in the spotlight.

He joined the prestigious University of California in his hometown and graduated three years later with a Master of Business Administration degree among others which had been required in his parent's will in order for him to lead Queen Industries.

Oliver had been named CEO of the company a month later, weeks shy of the first sighting of the Green Arrow in Star City. The rest was history. Chloe realized as she sat down on the chair at his side that she knew everything about this man.

Everything except the events of his missing year. She sighed, her frustrated and worried gaze falling on his sleeping form.

"What happened in Panama, Oliver?" she wondered out loud.

* * *

**_A bit of trivia: I'm assuming that Star City is the Los Angeles of the Smallville universe, just like Gotham replaces New York and Coast City, San Diego for example. This is how it works in my head._**

**_Also, Oliver being blind is a nod to the story of a writer I really like: "When Windows Are Broken" by Lizard1969 on  
_**


	7. Chapter 7: Replacement

**Chapter 7: Replacement**

* * *

**_Warning: Surprise appearances. Gore, Violence and Language plus character deaths._**

* * *

_'Trust me, my son. That which kills you makes you stronger.' - Faora to Davis Bloome, Season 8, Episode 8: "Bloodline" _

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 09:54 AM UTC-6 (10:54 AM Local Time). Classified Location, Delaware, USA.**

A black shining Mercedes strolled through the parking lot at reduced pace. It crossed the open gate and found a spot in the staff area. The engine died softly as the driver turned the power off and pulled his door open.

A pudgy man past the age of youth came out. He towered over the car by a simple head. Fumbling into his pocket for the keys, he cursed himself for not keeping them in his hands as he had just pulled them out of the ignition.

Using his hip to pull the driver-side door close, he emitted a small whimper of triumph as for the third try, the keys finally stopped slipping through his plump fingers. The car beeped, signalling the central locking system had been activated and the man started to walk away.

Only to freeze on his track after two steps. Patting himself, the man groaned and walked back. Two beeps later and the car was locked again as he adjusted the white coat hanging off his arm. Once again, he was about to pace away from the parking lot when his foot scratched against something on the ground.

Leaning down, he noticed his accreditation card being crushed under his shoe. Sighing, he grabbed it off the soil and cleaned it. ' _Edgar Wietzes, could you be anymore clumsy this morning? _' he chastised himself internally.

The high walls circling this isolated place shivered, a deformed shadow creeping around them. Edgar failed to notice the tell-tale signs of a foreign presence in the vicinity. Every outside noise had died down suddenly, leavingplace to the eerie stillness which usually followed _his _arrival.

It took the middle aged man ten yards to stop his walk towards the building, goosebumps racing up his skin. His body had sensed someone behind him. The hair at the back of his neck rose as he realized that it didn't feel like the warm glow of a human person – let alone a _living _person.

It was cold . Icy.

Holding his breath and unable to suppress the quakes shaking his frame, Edgar turned around slowly. It was as if the rest of the world had stopped breathing with him, just waiting to see who – or rather what – was happening behind his back.

A cry of terror bubbled out of his throat. There, two red dots were staring down on him, a featureless face perched up an inhumanly tall body of sparkling chrome. He was here.

On the other side of the street, a stray dog was watching the entryway towards the parking lot intently. Frozen by fear, the animal never blinked. A yelp had it startled and the dog considered running away as it writhed. Noises of boiling, burning flesh had its pointy ears up and focused.

Not a soul passed by to hear any of it. Had it been the case, their skin would have rippled in revulsion at the sheer sound. Instead, an underweight dog was the witness of the scene.

Moments later, the dog growled as Edgar Wietzes appeared at the entryway, dusting dark particles off his hands. He stopped abruptly, his head turning to the side in a calculated move as he stared straight at the animal.

His eyes flashed red and the dog whimpered, scampering away. Unperturbed, Edgar resumed his walk and stepped into the building.

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 09:56 AM UTC-6. Former MetGen building, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

Bart watched, perplexed, from his corner the old Metropolis General Hospital which had its front doors wide open. The young man's mood was stripped from his usual joviality this morning. It was starting to become a frequent thing.

The man he admired more than anyone else was still locked into his self-induced coma. According to Emil, Oliver was suffering from psychological issues inflicted or awakened during his confrontation with the mysterious murderer who paraded around in the archer's tunic.

To Bart, things were already bad. He, and the entire League, were going through tense times as everyone accused themselves of betraying their leader after he fled. No one could contest that they had doubted him at a certain moment, sometimes even became convinced of his guilt.

It was hard to live with this feeling.

Knowing that he turned his back on the man who gave him everything he had hoped for in his life. It was thanks to Oliver Queen that Bart Allen wasn't a low-level thief anymore. The speedster's life revolved now around a team of good-doers, he valued justice and truth more than ever now.

He was a changed man thanks to the Emerald Archer. In the latter's presence, Bart strived to become an even better man, following his friend's example, his idol.

The one who pulled a rebel teenager out of the streets he had been forced to live in after his parents abandoned him because of his abilities. He had trained, trusted and befriended Bart until the young man believed – at last – that he had something to give to the world, that he deserved better.

Oliver saved him in more ways than once. _Someday, _Bart repeated himself, _I'll thank him for this _. It was wonderful to be part of a family again, no matter how unusual it was.

Yet, that day hadn't come yet and the speedster's thoughts ended when he zoomed into the shell of the former MetGen. It didn't take him long to be met by people. Just as he had expected, Bart fell face to face with a group of women in skimpy clothes.

_Hookers. _He deduced.

The building wasn't located in a particularly poor or uncontrolled neighborhood but, the pimps and gangsters of Metropolis knew that the police wouldn't seek them out of here. They were too scared of the radiation levels brought by Davis Bloome which had forced the hospital to close its doors and relocate.

The rumors of the former MetGen being a dangerous place to be ran around the streets but most people were uninformed and believed it was some sort of scam. As radiation couldn't be felt, smelled or seen without proper equipment, the former hospital became a luxurious hotel for criminals and prostitutes.

There were at least ten women regrouped in the middle of the hall, old medical instruments and furnitures strewn across the filthy floor and used as things to lie or sit on.

One of the hookers, a woman whose breasts were far too big to be natural noticed him the first. "Look at what's coming our way, girls." she hummed winking at Bart. "Looking for a good time?"

Bart kept his face neutral. "How long you been here?"

"Long enough to know every room around here." Another tanned brunette replied sultrily as she pushed her cleavage forward. "Interested, honey?"

Bart looked away. "Sorry _chicas_ but I'm not here for that." he replied tensely.

The women frowned. "Listen, pumpkin," An older woman stepped forward, pointing a finger at him. "If you ain't here for some poon, you gotta leave. Don't make us lose time."

Bart sighed in irritation. The snarky come back at the tip of his tongue died when one of the doors behind him slammed open. A grey-haired man straightened his shirt, draping a denim jacket over it. He didn't bother looking their way.

"'Next time, darling." he addressed the person still inside the room. "I'll see you on Monday."

Following the man out a moment later, a young woman readjusted the tight latex of her clothes as she paced towards them, her head down.

Bart held his breath, staring at her while she obliviously approached him. Their gazes met the instant she looked up. "Hi." he whispered.

The girl nodded, giving him a generic smile. "Hi." she said, walking past him towards the other women.

Bart cleared his throat. "What's your name?"

She frowned, a glint of annoyance in her eyes. "Mia." she replied nicely, walking back slowly towards him. "What's yours?"

"I'm Bart." he extended his hand. "Care if I borrow you for a while?"

"That's okay, honey," she smiled. "I have all the time in the world for you."

The other women snickered as Bart's mask of control slipped. "Come on." he grabbed her hand, leading her to another corner.

"Hey!" she fought against him. "Money first!"

Bart shook his head, letting her go. "Sorry beautiful but this isn't what you think." he said. "I just want to talk."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Yeah I know the type."

"I'm not lying." he stressed.

She looked up, frowning at him. He knew he had her attention and should explain himself but the sight of a strand of dark hair slipping down her blonde wig had him lose his trail of thoughts. "I think you'dlook better without that on." he pointed to her hair.

The look on her face had him catching himself. "Sorry." he said. "I'm not a client, I just... well I like your hair that's it." he finished lamely.

The strange look she gave him didn't deter her from pulling her wig off, revealing long raven hair. "I was right," he licked his lips. "You look much better that way."

"What do you want?"

He blinked. "Yeah, sorry.. again." he apologized, making her grin lightly. "How long have you guys been here? Squatting, you know?"

"Why?"

Bart shook his head. "I just want to know."

"You're not a cop, are you?" she looked defensive.

He raised his hands. "I swear, I'm an honest guy."

She looked around for a moment, shifting on her feet. Eventually she sighed. "A week?"

Bart's eyebrows shot up. "That long?" she nodded. "You know what happened here, right?"

Mia nodded. "Yeah, that story about some radiation leak."

"And?"

She frowned. "And what?"

He scratched his head. "What? You don't think it's dangerous?"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, I don't bite at every story the news throw at us." she said. "Everyone knows it's a politician's ploy to change the place for free."

"Who told you that?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Nobody. I just know."

"Mia." he warned. "Please."

She sighed. "Rick, my pimp. Happy now?"

"Not at all." he said seriously, pulling a Geiger counter from his back pocket. "You know what this is?"

She swallowed, eyeing the instrument. "It's that thing to measure radiation, isn't it?"

Wordlessly, he turned it on. The counter immediately crackled and went on and on without ever stopping. Mia's wide eyes met Bart's.

"I've been there five times since the contamination." he held her gaze sternly. "Every time I can only think about leaving ASAP."

She opened her mouth but he cut her off. "At some spots it's like Chernobyl here." he said. "You can't stay here."

She started to hyperventilate. "I can't..."

He handed her the Geiger counter. "Take that." he held her hands so they wouldn't shake. "Get your mamacitas outta here and don't come back."

"But..but.. Rick."

"I'll take care of the guy." he said darkly. After all, he needed to relieve some of his tension. "Just tell me where he is."

"Just outside, the grey BMW." she whimpered. "He'll kill you, Bart."

He winked. "He's gonna have to be very fast."

Bart started to pull away when she grabbed his hands to hold him back. "Thanks." she murmured.

The young man blushed, stammering over his words. "Heh... it's nothing." he rubbed the back of his head. "I'll... go stop some bad guys, then." he finished making her laugh.

He smiled looking back at her, thinking she was radiant. There was something in Bart that identified with this girl. Somehow, he felt that she didn't belong here just like it had been the case for him before he met Oliver.

"Be quick." he said seriously. "Leave as quick as you can."

She nodded, her eyes bright as she ran the other way, out of his sight. He stayed in his spot for another moment, a thought passing through his mind. He would find her again. She probably didn't want it but he would give her his help and pull her out of the streets.

_It begins with this Rick guy. _Bart turned around,on his way towards the grey BMW parked in front of the building.

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 10:00 AM UTC-6 (11:00 AM Local Time). Classified Location, Delaware, USA.**

The glass doors stifled opened, a bunch of white coats walking out of the confined area. They crossed the hallway into the administrative center composed of large banks of desks organized in an open-space environment.

The first man to enter the place, a striking-looking doctor, grinned widely at the sight of his friend blowing on his mug of black coffee. "Ed!" he greeted enthusiastically. "So you're back already? How were the Maldives?"

"It was good, quiet and all." Edgar Wietzes grinned, shaking his hand for a long moment. "Samantha said that a little bird told her the reservations came from you. Looks like I'll have to thank you for once!" he teased.

"It's nothing," the other man dismissed.

"Since when is Christian being modest?" A forty-two year old ebony woman appeared at their side. "We'll have to look out today, you never know pigs might fly!"

The group laughed. "All right, all right, I get it." Christian rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have been so generous if the wife wasn't having such a hard time with the baby. Looks like she talked too, the minx!"

Ed smirked. "Keep her on a leash, Chris! Once they start they never stop!"

"The thought have crossed my mind, trust me." He grinned.

The woman rolled her eyes skyward. "Misogynists as ever these overpaid researchers!"

The three of them laughed as another swarm of their peers arrived and greeted Ed. He was coming back from a three-weeks vacation with his wife and children.

"So, how is Eva doing?" Ed asked.

Christian sighed. "Well you know, she's been much better now that we're past the morning sickness time, she's less dizzy and more upbeat." he said. "But her hormones... ouch! I'm walking on eggs at home, I tell you."

Ed laughed. "Been there, done that. Looking back, it was the best part of Sam's pregnancies." he said. "It's a real fodder of stories to tell years after."

The woman shook her head. "And that is why I will never have kids." she said.

"Never say never, Anita." Christian nudged her shoulder. "Maybe some years down the road you'll meet a handsome G-man around here who will end up fathering an entire tribe of mini-you!"

"Now that's a picture!" Ed roared. "How do you come up with these, Chris?"

Anita glared at him. "Don't encourage him!"

"Well I'm just telling the truth, the way I see it, _Sugar! _" Christian winked at her.

She made a face at the nickname. He always used it to unnerve her and it never missed. "Nothing will ever happen between Eric and I!"

"Oh, so now he has a name!" Christian teased.

Ed sobered up. "Wait a minute, you're not kidding." he realized. "We have a mole inside? I's been years since we had one!"

It seemed to remind Christian of something as he immediately became excited. "Oh, that's right you haven't seen our last recruit!" he tapped his forehead, his eyes wide.

"Go on, you have my interest, dear!" Ed laid back comfortably.

The corners of Christian's lips twitched but he went on and started his rant. "A week after you left we had an entire army bring in a new patient. I swearI've never seen so many assault rifles at once!" he said. "As it happens, this woman – really sinister – comes in and demands to see Gerhard."

Ed's eyes widened. "She went straight for the boss? It must have been some unique case she was bringing."

Anita nodded. "And you're still sorely underestimating this patient by saying 'unique'."

"Oh yeah Ed, you should see the guy!" Christian continued. "We heard that he was an escaped convict they caught in the nature. Very dangerous type." he said. "He's been pretty uncooperative so far but, wow! His genetic material is astounding!"

"Astounding?" Anita snickered. "He's immune to cancer, AIDS and even Ebola to say the least."

"No shit?" Ed exclaimed.

"The Zaire source has literally failed to reproduce in his system." Christian confirmed.

"You injected him with the deadliest form of the Ebola virus and he's still alive?"

"It's been a week and a half!" Anita said. "He should have died ten times already."

"He didn't even flinch." Christian recalled. "He's agitated and you won't believe me when I tell you he never – ever – sleeps."

"What?"

"The cameras are running continually on him and we never saw him doze off even for a minute." Christian said.

"Is he on drugs, or a similar product?" Ed asked.

Anita shook her head. "His blood always comes clean. It's the purest we've ever seen."

"Holy..." Ed breathed. "I want to see him."

Christian smirked, checking his watch. "Well, I guess the pause is up." he agreed. "Come on."

The three of them walked back to the labs, crossing several checkpoints where guards made sure their equipments respected the rules and that they weren't hiding any weapons with them. They finally reached the sanitising crossways where they washed their hands and decontaminated themselves.

"Goddamn, it feels like 9/11 in there." Ed exclaimed as their stopped in the airlock. "You weren't kidding about the guards."

"There's another one inside, _Eric _," he sent an amused glance towards Anita. "Who would call his friends inside in less time than it would take for you to say 'Help'."

"What's his name, by the way?" Ed asked. "The patient."

Christian put a finger on his lips. "They don't want us to know." he clarified. "But Anita's charms seemed to work on her new lover-boy."

Anita sighed. "Will you leave me alone with this?" she complained.

"Ani, please." Ed prompted.

"Fine." she agreed. "His name is Davis Bloome, that's all I know."

Ed shrugged. "Maybe it's a fake name. He's a nobody for sure."

"Most likely." Christian agreed as he pushed the steel door open. "Here you go, pal. Meet-"

His words died on his lips as the three of them watched in shock a single guard pointing his weapon straight to the patient's head. The latter was fighting against the chains holding him against the wall, roaring in rage. His eyes filled with a blood like shade of anger.

Christian realized in fright that Davis had literally broken open one of the clasps, freeing his hand while cracks started to appear on the wall behind him as he pulled against the chains. "Oh my..." he whispered. "This is impossible, it's armed concrete!"

Dark-grey patches were splattered over the patient's skin and a thing looking suspiciously like a bone started to poke out of his shoulder. The man writhed, yelling in a mix of pain, rage and... hunger.

"Eric!" Anita screamed, running towards them.

The guard was trembling in fear as he looked back, his eyes wide. "Anita, stay where you are!" he shouted. Somehow, the sight of a weary, experienced veteran of war being afraid was extremely unsettling to the scientists.

Anita shook her head, pulling a syringe from her coat'spocket. "Anita!" both Christian and Eric yelled. It was too late, she was already in Davis's personal space, injecting the strong sedative into his neck.

Davis's words were incomprehensible, Christian wasn't even sure the man was talking. It sounded more like he was seething, grumbling, like an animal. "No!" he screamed.

Anita yelled in pain, squirming against him as blood coated her clothes. He had plunged his fist in her abdomen. She gasped, her body convulsing as he kept pushing his arm until it started to poke out from her back.

Eric shouted in horror and lunged at Davis, letting his weapon fall to the ground. Christian had to cover his eyes, his stomach turning at the sight of Davis tearing them both to pieces. Blood flew all over the place, he thought he was going to be sick.

"Oh my god!" he gasped, turning towards the emergency alarm. "Edgar, leave!" he said, going to press the button.

Unfortunately, he would never make it. A second later, his neck had been snapped. His dead body slumped down, revealing the emotionless stance of Edgar behind him. His eyes had been replaced by two robotic red dots.

He turned around and quietly started to pace inside, stopping a few feet away from Davis and the piles of meat that had been Anita and Eric. The monster was gurgling, pieces of organs and blood spewing from his mouth as he raged and tried to reach Edgar, his hand still attached to the wall.

The doctor sized him up and down, his eyes flashing white for an instant until two rays of fire flew out of his eyes, setting Davis aflame. The latter struggled against the pain as his body started to vaporize under the fire.

Moments later, everything was quiet again and a pile of ashes accompanied the remains of Eric and Anita on the ground. Davis Bloome was no more. As Edgar walked towards another wall, he paid no attention to the cameras still filming his actions.

These images would later prove that Edgar Wietzes was already dead before he met Christian Branson and Anita Johnstone this morning. He had encountered the creature from the orb. The Thing had destroyed the second coming of Doomsday.

As it punched a hole into the wall and flew away, the question remained behind, leaving an uncomfortable feeling weighting heavily in the air. _What if The Thing was the second coming of Doomsday? _

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 05:22 PM UTC-6. Watchtower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"He's better." Chloe said into her cellphone, watching the city from the large stained-glass window. "In and out and not making much sense but..."

She sighed. "Yes, Lois. Emil is sure he's okay." her cousin talked on the other end of the line. "No you stay where you are. We need you at the planet to update us on every move Lex makes."

"Yes, I know." she looked down. "It doesn't help that J'onn is on a trip to Mars, we could have known about the investigation before anybody."

Chloe smiled sadly. "I'll do that." she assured. "He'll wake up soon. Mmmh... Yep. Me too Lo."

"Bye." she said softly, hanging up.

She rolled her eyes at her cousin's attitude and backed away towards the stairs once again. She was alone this afternoon. Oliver was still in the bedroom where she spent most of her time too while the team was out to gather intel about Lex's plans or to equip Watchtower. She had sent Bart to the old MetGen this morning when she had noticed that people had broken in again.

He came back looking chirpier than he had been in a whole week but her attempts to make him tell her anything had failed. He had been skittish.

Chloe didn't care. What mattered was that he was happier now. Everything that happened with Oliver had put a large dark cloud over their heads which was only finally starting to lift. She knew it would only be gone the moment their leader woke up for real.

She slipped into the bedroom quietly, her gaze softening at the sight of Oliver in the bed. Taking a few more steps, she frowned when she noticed his head moving from side to side every once in a while. His brow furrowed in a way telling her he was having a bad dream.

She hurried his side, sitting on the bedside. "Ollie." she whispered, stroking his forehead. "Ollie it's me, It's Chloe."

He seemed to have heard her. His body relaxed slightly but the frown was still on her face. His lips moved and she leaned down. "What's that?" she asked quietly. He had mumbled something.

He said it again. "Louder, Ollie." she murmured.

"...Vordigan."

* * *

_**You might wonder why I brought Davis back for this chapter. I wanted to explain the way I see his character. To me, it's silly to consider him a human being after he's been stripped from the beast by Black Kryptonite. He has nothing human inside.**_

_**He is an experimental liquid matter created by Zod's scientists on Krypton. This matter shaped itself into Davis at its arrival on Earth to hide the beast. That's what he is: A mask for Doomsday. Nothing more.**_

_**Sam Witwer said it himself in an interview: "Davis is like a computer program which started to believe in itself."**_

_**I think that since the beast and 'the man' had been separated, Davis' body may have started recreating another Doomsday inside him and that explain why he still wasn't dead until this chapter. It wasn't the orb which brought him back like it did to Ollie. He still had J'onn's bullet in his brain so it killed him again... until his body regenerated by itself and he was back.**_

_**This is my belief about Davis Bloome. Now, his character is gone for real since the Thing from the orb had the ability to destroy him. He won't come back. And this story will focus back on Lex/fake-Green Arrow and the League as this chapter is the last one to tie up the remainings of Betrayal's plot.**_

_**The Thing is out there and will be dealt with in time. It just hasn't come yet.**_

_**Congrats if you've been reading my semi-rant here, I really hope it didn't bother you too much and that you enjoyed this chapter. I'll keep updating regularly.**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Past Always Catches Up

**Chapter 8: The Past Always Catches Up**

* * *

_**Warning: Strong use of violence, drugs and language as well as sexual hints.**_

_**Note: This is the first chapter to ever break the timeline in Eternal Wrath. Keep an eye on the dates so you don't get confused as this is a full flashback chapter. Content might be disturbing to some, even more so as I relate several real events and often twist them my way to make them fit into the plot.**_  
_**In the end, it's a special chapter but its importance puts it above the rest of the story.**_

* * *

_'There's a dark place inside everyone, Oliver. What we do with it depends not on who our teachers are but what we do with the lessons learned.' - Mia Dearden, Season 9, Episode 10: "Disciple". _

* * *

**November 12th 2000. 04:11 PM UTC-6 (02:11 PM Local Time). Miles & Associates Office, Star City, California, USA.**

Dayton Miles leaned forward on his leather chair, feeling uncomfortably stuffed as his traditional business suit tightened around him making him wish he had tried harder to lose his few extra-pounds when he was still young enough.

His puzzled gaze studied the white unsealed envelope laying on his desk. A tentative hand hovered above it as if he was going to grasp the paper but changed his mind at the last moment and withdrew his arm slowly.

"These are my instructions in my absence." A twenty years old Oliver Queen stated quietly.

The lawyer pursed his lips, looking up at the child he'd cared for after his parents' passing. "What's going on in that head of yours, kid?" he questioned numbly.

Oliver ducked his head a little. "This is something I need to do."

Dayton squinted at him. "What do you need to do?"

When his question was met by silence, he rose from his chair slowly. His salt and pepper hair shifted as he shook his head in dismay. "Oliver," he said, prompting the young man to stop evading his gaze. "What do you need to do?"

"I need to leave." he whispered.

The fifty-two year old froze. "Tell me I heard you wrong." he pleaded almost desperately, his eyes wide in fear. "Oliver you just came back. Not even three months ago we all thought you were dead!"

"Dayton, please..." the teenager begged the man who had assumed his father's role in his life for so long. "I don't have a choice." he finished, his eyes shining.

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?" the lawyer exploded. "We always have one! You have to finish your education, you need to rebuild your life... there are so many things you need to do now!"

"I will do them all." Oliver assured. "I promised my parents."

That seemed to calm down the older man a bit. "Just tell me why." he murmured, staring into his eyes. "You said it yourself when you came back: you've changed. You don't need to go back to the man you were before."

"I've changed, I have." Oliver stressed. "But I need to do more and I don't know how."

"I'm here!" Dayton grabbed his shoulders. "I can help you."

Oliver smiled sadly. "You've tried your best to help me for years, Dayton." he recalled. "You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped."

Dayton's eyes widened. "I thought..."

"This isn't what I mean." Oliver caught himself. "You've given me so much all these years and I never appreciated them for what they were worth but I know better now... and as twisted as this seems to be, I need to leave because I know that what I've experienced on this island is not enough."

Dayton's brow furrowed. "Did something happen? After you came back?" he asked. "This isn't what you were saying then. Something must have happened."

Oliver closed his eyes painfully. "I hurt Tess." he admitted, his voice barely audible. "I did it to drive her away."

"Why?"

Dayton saw the tears threatening to fall from the young man's eyes. "Things weren't the same." he related, clearing his throat. "She wanted to start over her career and it felt like she was using me."

Dayton nodded. "She's ambitious," he agreed.

"I got scared." Oliver admitted, swallowing hard. "I wasn't comfortable with her anymore." Tess had monopolized his attention ever since their come back into civilization and it prevented Oliver from doing what he had promised himself to do when he was on the island.

"It's understandable, it happens to everybody, Oliver."

"I cheated." he said suddenly, evading Dayton's eyes. He didn't want to see the disappointment on his face. "I took the easy way out and I cheated on her. I... I really hurt her."

The older man remained silent and Oliver swallowed hard. "I know I messed up and that's what scares me." he said. "I never came back actually."

"Wha-"

"After Mom and Dad... left." he clarified. "I lost a part of myself that I've been chasing ever since." He locked gazes with Dayton again. "This is why I need to leave. I need to find myself again."

The older man studied the determination in his eyes, feeling his chest tighten. "So you're leaving." It felt like a hammer blow as the resolution of the words finally sunk into his mind.

Oliver simply nodded, mute for a long moment as they looked at each other. Both men standing in the middle of Dayton's office in downtown Star City, separated by a mere foot.

"It's going to take a while." the younger one eventually said. "I don't want you to wait for me, things may go wrong..."

"You do what you need to do." Dayton cut him off, his voice rougher than expected. There was a wave of sadness hidden underneath it all. "But you come back here when you're done. Oliver, do you hear me? You'll come back. I won't accept anything else."

The look they shared had both men tearing up. They remained still until Dayton unexpectedly pulled him into his arms, hugging the young man hard. A tear slipped from Oliver's eye.

"Thanks." he murmured. "Thanks for everything."

Dayton didn't say anything, his arms tightening so he kept talking. "You gave me your best and I gave you nothing but troubles... I'm sorry. I didn't deserve you."

Dayton exhaled deeply. "You were a self-absorbed punk, a real pain to raise." he admitted after a while. Oliver chuckled as he smiled himself, blinking rapidly. "The best pain I've ever experienced in my life."

They let go of each other and Dayton patted Oliver's face before brushing his shoulders as the gesture a proud father would do to his son leaving to explore the world. "Good luck, kiddo." he said, nudging him away gently.

Their gazes never broke away as Oliver walked back to the doors. The hinges squeaked quietly and he stopped for a moment. Dayton gave him an encouraging smile and Oliver's lips went up timidly before he closed it and left.

Dayton's shoulders slumped. He was immobile for what felt like an eternity, watching the last spot Oliver stood on until his mind finally came back. The old man's eyes fell on the envelope on his desk.

He rounded the furniture, sitting down onto his chair and ripping it open. A sheet of paper on which Oliver's scrabble was met his eyes.

_'All these years I wanted to hate you. I never could. You were the only one who kept me standing when all I wanted to do was to lie down and die with my parents. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you. _

_I like to think that Robert and Laura Queen laid the groundwork and they planned to go on from that. The day their plane didn't come back, I thought I would be left a shadow of the man I was destined to be. _

_Until you. You took me under your wing and finished what they started and for that I'll always be grateful. _

_When I picture my family in my head, I see myself surrounded by my father and my mother... and I see you standing by us too. "You're part of the family." that's something you kept telling me all the time. _

_I think you did it enough times that it finally stuck with me. I'm part of your familybut you're part of mine too. Keep repeating yourself that while I'm gone. _

_I'll come back because I owe you... so much, so many things, I can't even put it into words. You're as much of a father to me as my own. _

_Take care, Dayton and don't lose hope or I will too. _

_ Your son, Oliver.' _

There was another letter exposing his instructions during his absencebut Dayton's eyes couldn't tear away from the first one even as it started to collect the tears he didn't realize had escaped him. He and Oliver had had a difficult relationship over the yearsbut there was no doubt about the amount of respect and affection between the two men.

Dayton knew he would wait for him to come back. What else could he do? The young man had a life to live after his return and he intended to be part of it and guide him all the way through. Everything else didn't matter.

* * *

**July 10th 2001. 11:00 PM UTC-6 (11:00 PM Local Time). Along the Rio Balsas, Panamà. **

The crowd boiled and frenzied around the filthy path that constituted the main street of their modest village. The night had fallen half an hour ago and the usual quietude of the countryside was disturbed as their shouts of anger echoed through the valley.

Alerted, the fifteen members of a convoy coming down from the heights of the mountainous forest, headed towards the tiny town bordering the Rio Balsas river. Such agitation wasn't so unusual in the southern region of Panama.

Ever since _La Violencia_ – the Colombian civil war of 1948 – the bordering countries had been affected, their rising economies fell into oblivion and the people had become used to take the law into their own hands as their governments revealed themselves as either incompetent or corrupt.

Tonight, the agitation seemed to be contained and as such, the men and their horses didn't pick up their pace as they trotted down to the village calmly. They had seen worse in the past.

The sounds of the horses' hoofs splattering on the mud and the whistling wheels of their chariots drew some of the crowd's attention. The situation clarified itself with every step they took and soon, they were entering the village. Their hooded faces, along with the bows and arrows they carried imposed silence to the people who noticed their arrival.

"_La Hermandad!_" One of them called, his eyes wide as he watched them pass before him.

The crowd quieted, heads turning the new group as a hint of fear mixed in with the respect the local population held for these men. The latter came to a halt a moment later, one of them setting foot on the ground.

He paced confidently ahead of the convoy, strands of dark facial hair poking out of the darkness of his hood as he towered over all of the villagers.

They looked up at him in awe, some of them even bowing as a sign of submission. The head of the village, a frail man, took an uncertain step forward, addressing the stranger. "Señor Vordigan," he greeted.

"What's got you so excited at this time of the day?" Vordigan asked in flawless Spanish.

The man rubbed his chest nervously to try to control his heartbeat. "It is the landlord Echevarria, Señor." he explained. "His prices doubled this month, we can't pay." He looked back at his fellow men before addressing Vordigan again. "When the money didn't come he kidnapped the priest and..."

The crowd parted upon his signal, revealing a bruised boy trying hard not to cry as he sat on the ground. "He sent a messenger," The man continued, his tone fuelled by a newfound anger. "He just gave us a package and said that Echevarria wants to be paid the rent plus a fine for disobeying him. The package contained our priest's severed ear."

Vordigan made a noise of acknowledgement. "Echevarria, you say?"

"Si, Señor."

"These lands don't belong to him, they're under our jurisdiction now." The archer announced. "He will be taken care of."

The man looked back at him with wide eyes. "And our priest, Señor? We need him in the Village!"

Vordigan almost shook his head. "We'll find him too." he lied. If Echevarria was sending the first pieces of his body that meant the hostage was dead. It was the widespread M.O. of the kidnappers in the region.

The man nodded. "And the rent?" he asked fearfully. "We barely have enough for ourselves to eat."

He smirked, the brightness of his teeth cutting through the night. "There is no rent, we're not stealing from you like Echevarria." he announced. "We'll talk about some privileges later."

The village's chief went down to his knees along with the rest of the crowd. "Thank you, Señor! God bless you!" he cried.

Vordigan turned around without another word, circling the first chariot and stop at its back. Inside, a young man was shaping arrows out of a piece of wood with his knife. He stopped at his mentor's arrival.

"Oliver." Vordigan said. "Take your bow."

His disciple rubbed his nose, following the other man silently. Vordigan walked back towards the center of the village and continued through the crowd as he came up to the battered boy in the dirt.

Oliver arrived a moment later, watching the older man as he looked down at the kid. "Rise." his mentor ordered.

The boy trembled a little at the tone of his voice and complied. He stood on his legs, his jaw tight as he fought not to show any emotion.

Vordigan studied him for an instant. "You're just a child, why are you working for a scumbag like Echevarria?"

The boy held his chin up defiantly. "I'm not a child." he protested. "I've drunk, I've fucked, I've sniffed, I've killed! I'm a man."

Oliver eyed him up and down from under his hood. He didn't look older than twelve to him. It still shocked him to witness how messed up the young generations were in these countries. Even after all these months he spent in South America, there were some things he would never get used to.

His journey had started the day after informing Dayton Miles of his departure. He simply walked away incognito in clothes no one would think to find him wearing as he kept a low profile and hoped people were good enough to take him on a hitch-hiking ride.

Barely a week passed by and he had crossed the border illegally. It had been surprisingly easy, not that he should have been surprised. The American authorities were only looking for people fleeing Mexico to the United States, not the other way around.

The Mexican police were on the local cartels' payrolls and couldn't care less if someone they weren't tasked to shoot or take to the drug lords walked through the fences.

Being a gringo in Tijuana was an experience. There were the welcoming neighborhoods close to the border, the tourist's place. It was an illusion. As he crossed the city, Oliver noticed the degradation of the streets, houses and overall conditions of life the further he went into the country. Not to say, the violence and summary executions at best overlooked by the authorities, at worst, sponsored by them.

It was an eye-opening week to the young man whose wealth and education had sheltered him from most of the dangers of the world. Sometimes he still wondered how he had done to be so selfish in his youth. Why did it take so long for him to open his eyes?

Sadly, the answers never changed and he realized that dwelling on the past and cursing his own self wouldn't do him any good. And so, he kept walking, rolling, driving... sometimes even running until El Salvador came.

There, he was given the opportunity to sail towards the Ecuadorian coasts and step into the country his parents were supposed to visit twenty years ago before their plane crashed. He spent almost three months there.

Informally meeting with the ex-diplomat whom Robert and Laura Queen intended to meet. As it became clear to Oliver that the man personally knew his parents, sharing stories about these two exceptional individuals had become a regular occurrence during his stay in the country.

The young man requested to be led to the last known location of their plane before the crash. The diplomat had been kind enough to grant him a trusting escort of police officers who had investigated the case themselves at the time.

Together, they wound up navigating seventy miles off the coast to a remote island where it was believed, the crash could have been witnessed at the time had there been people on it. The small place surrounded by the waves and the sand under his feet brought back fresh memories in Oliver's mind he'd rather have kept locked.

Instead of giving in to his unease, he listened attentively to the men and women accompanying him. It was believed that the plane had started to dislocate into the air as it nosedived into the sea. The authorities had found large pieces of the machine floating around the area and deduced that the fuselage itself along with every person aboard, had sunk into one of the many deep trench of the Pacific Ocean from where it was impossible to extract them.

They would remain prisoners as well as the reason of the crash until humanity came up with a technology advanced enough to explore at such depths underwater. To this day, this type of machinery still hadn't been made.

This trip had brought him the closest to the spot his parents lay in death. Emotions had been high during the two days it took to go back on the mainland and Oliver had sworn to himself that one day he would find out what really happened that night of October the 5th, 1989.

The aftermath of that expedition saw a sudden thirst of truth seize him. The diplomat, whose generosity saw no limit, had offered to host him for as long as the young man needed. In a week of time, his goodness turned into concern as he watching Oliver trying to pinpoint the reason of the crash. He spent countless nights awake, collecting any and every information about plane crashes during that period of time.

Eventually, one case caught his attention. About a month after his parent's plane went down, another one, belonging to the South American company Avianca Airlines, was blown up in the air not even five minutes after take-off.

One hundred and ten people died that day. The explosion was attributed to a bomb that everyone deduced had been placed on the plane by one of the most influential criminals of all time: Pablo Escobar.

The chances of any connections between the two tragedies were slim but the Queens' involvement in this part of the continent at the time was huge and growing. There might have been some obscure reason as to why the billionaire drug lord wanted them dead.

That last development brought Oliver to one of the most dangerous countries in the world: Colombia. He went straight into Escobar's former turf: Medellín, the second largest city of the country.

It marked the end of the easiest part of his journey. Soon, he would encounter a whole new level of troubles and learn things the hard way. His thoughts ended there as he was pulled back to present time in another tense situation.

"You are a man." Vordiganrepeated in contempt. He looked back at his apprentice. "Aim at him."

Oliver had a moment of hesitation before he did as he was told and targeted the kid with his bow, closely watching his mentor out of the corner of the eye.

The latter was staring at the boy. "If you are a man, you are going to chose." he started, his words chilling the air. "Your hand... or your foot?"

The kid froze, as if he didn't quite comprehend the question. Vordigan repeated himself with the same patience Oliver knew him to possess while he, himself, continued to keep his bow pointing towards the boy.

He had learned not to doubt his leader as, during the long months he spent in his company, he had saved his life several times already. Not that the young archer was in any position to understand what the situation implied.

Ever since Vordigan took him under his wing, Oliver had felt different. It was strange, how his mind kept buzzing constantly, how it seemed he wasn't as in control of his body as he was before. His sudden spikes of anger and high energy remained unexplained even as Vordigan had tried to reassure him by telling him the mosquitoes carried some diseases with them which could affect people who weren't used to them.

_It will pass. _He had said. Somehow, under the façade of certainty and trust, one little voice in Oliver's mind told him something was wrong. He didn't listen. Instead, he pulled the string of the bow back even further, strengthening the tension of the moment.

His words had seemed to sink into the boy's mind whose eyes suddenly left all signs of defiance as he paled visibly. "If you don't chose, it's going to be both." Vordigan warned.

The moment carried on to the limit of their patience. The crowd around them watched as the kid remained still and Vordigan sighed. He prepared to order Oliver to shoot when the teenager suddenly held a trembling hand aloft.

Vordigan seemed pleased as he nodded to Oliver. The latter felt his heart racing in his ribcage, the blood pumping and echoing to his ears as he released the arrow.

It pierced his skin cleanly, leaving a gaping hole in his palm from which blood started to flow out. The kid screamed in pain, his agony coldly ignored by the people surrounding him.

Oliver stood still for an instant, staring at the boy cradling his wounded hand as he cried in a childlike manner. Chest tight and light-headed, he tried to process what he had just done. It was the first time such thing had been asked from him.

He was all for fighting criminals the dirty way but this moment struck a cord he didn't know he had. Hurting a child voluntarily and arbitrarily left Oliver unsure of how he should feel.

Swallowing hard, he dared to cast a glance at the man beside him. The proud grin Vordigan sported replaced Oliver's uneasiness with a warmth of elation so sudden, it felt artificial. Yet, it felt good.

"Go tell your boss that the Brotherhood of Sion declares war to him and his associates." Vordigan announced roughly, kicking the boy in action who immediately raced into the forest, his tears for sole companion. "Tell him that he never is to come back here! This is the land of justice now!" he yelled after him.

The crowd cheered Vordigan's words as he congratulated Oliver, his pride in the man clear even with the hood covering his head. The blond relished in the way his mentor made him feel. He was useful, finally.

Vordigan gave him a chance to learn how to fight crime in an efficient way. The same people who were responsible for his parent's death now were starting to fear the Brotherhood of Sion led by a man whose Irish origins helped him establish himself as a leader of bowmen in the Darien Gap.

"Oliver," Vordigan held his shoulder proudly. "You've proved your worth once again. I think it's time for you to use your skills for the cause."

The blond froze, glee filling him. These were the words he had been waiting for so long. Vordigan had a mission for him, the first mission as an integral member of the Brotherhood. He couldn't be happier. "Go rest with the comrades, we'll talk later."

As he nodded and walked back to his chariot, Oliver saw Vordigan follow the Village's chief into his home where they spent an hour talking. Their subjects of discussion would remain secret, just like every time.

Little did he know that Vordigan's true allegiance lay in darker paths than the ones taught to every member of the Brotherhood. Oliver Queen worshipped a man everyone considered a savior but whose recent decisions were motivated by something much less honorable than Justice and Fairness.

Little did he know that hours later, as Echevarria's young messenger came back to tell him the news, the kid would be beheaded. His body discarded and left to rot in the dense forest of the Darien Gap. His parents were dead and his friends would cheer his demise just as it was customary in the drug cartels. No one would miss him.

Oliver Queen ignored that. Vordigan didn't.

* * *

**July 10th 2001. 01:00 AM UTC-6 (01:00 AM Local Time). Darién Gap, Colombia.**

If there was one word to describe the Darién Gap, it was: raw. Few people knew it even existed. They didn't suspect that the Pan-American Highway – a project which goal was to connect the entire continent through a network of roads – failed to fulfil its task as a 99 miles long breach lingered at the border between Panama and Colombia. Hence the name: Darién Gap.

Oliver knew the area well now. During his initiation at the Brotherhood, he had been taught of the region's worth. It was in fact a large forest, vastly unexplored by civilized men, which prevented the connection between the two countries.

Its dense nature and sheer hostility provided a handy home to the drug smugglers of America and the different militias still in action after decades of political instability. Most of all, the territory was mainly inpossession of the FARC militia – _Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. _

The Marxist insurgents came from Colombia and started to invade the Darién Gap during the seventies on both sides of the border. They never left. No one dared to walk through the jungle they knew better than anybody else. Even the American special forces avoided the Gap like the plague.

It was literally a lawless land.

In that same land, Oliver Queen's archer tunic was currently crouching under the large leaves of the exotic ferns hanging over the ground and he observed his surroundings with attention. People assumed that the criminals hiding here wouldn't be kicked out until a state-controlled military force would get the equipment necessary to explore the jungle safely.

It could take another half ofcentury before that happened. Justice seemed to have forgotten the place. Kidnappings and murders were frequent here, just as nobody would give much of your chances if you fell face to face with the rebels.

At least, that was the public's views. Oliver knew better. As a bowman of Sion, he was now in a domain he loved. His posture never changed as he stayed quiet and listened. Outsiders would laugh if they heard him say that this forest had a soul. It was true, though, it had a soul.

She was a wicked and sadistic bitch everyone feared.

This was her realm, one of the last places on Earth where nature still had more power than man. Sparse were the attempts to cross the Gap and fewer were the ones who knew it well enough to make it out alive.

Yet, it was the Brotherhood of Sion's playground. Its members had mastered it and made it their homes. For centuries now, they'd been watching and waiting for their time. No one outside the locals knew they even existed.

Most of the rebels and criminals still thought the Brotherhood was a legend. They couldn't be more wrong. Under Vordigan's leadership, _La Hermandad _as named by the people, had grown from a small group of drop-outs into a force to be reckoned with.

They were the only reliable militia to provide safety for the people living under their jurisdiction. Their unconventional weapons and training only heightened the perception of them being more than simple men.

Their fight against crime in the Gap was just starting and most of their enemies remained unaware of the threat they posed to them. Tonight, Oliver would be the one to open the hostilities and tell them the truth.

Vordigan had assigned him to his first mission. He was travelling through the immensity of the forest to complete his task, never once considering defeat. Vordigan counted on him and he owed him his life.

He remembered the day his young revengeful self met with the man. It went back to March 2001.

At the time, Oliver had been scouring the town of Medellín in Colombia to track down people connected to the local cartel which had been disbanded after leader's death in 1993.

The first few weeks were fruitless. The young man hadn't expected much cooperation from the people there but things were going to turn sour very quickly. It wasn't long before his presence caught the attention of the wrong people.

A Yankee in Pablo Escobar's old home asking questions about plane crashes wouldn't go unnoticed. As a matter of fact, it didn't. Three days later, his hotel was raided by armed men. He barely escaped with his life.

Now forced to avoid attraction any attention, Oliver's belief were confirmed. He had ticked off the right people. He was a nuisance and needed to be eliminated. Did the people after him know his identity?

It wasn't impossible. Colombia hadn't seen many bomb attacks since the mid-nineties which was why everyone was surprised when one bright morning, an entire bus filled with explosive went off in front of Oliver's hideout.

The façade had been blown out, the asphalt melting under the heat and twelve bystanders died in the blink of an eye. Still, Oliver lived. He took the back door and ran through the streets, barefoot. He was chased by no less than five pick-ups of men in full gear.

He was running for his life, trying to escape them through the narrow streets of the city. It all came to an end when he turned to a final corner, finding himself face to face with a wall. Behind, tyres screeched and footsteps followed. Weapons cocked, ready to fire.

In a split moment, Oliver dashed into the closest store, a small pub. The patrons looked horrified to see him bring all these men towards them until a light-skinned man stood out from the crowd and sealed the door.

He guided Oliver out of the city from the roofs as if he had done that hundred of times before. The billionaire barely had time to thank him that he stuffed him into a chariot and took off in the direction of the jungle. Dazed but alive, Oliver never questioned their destination as long as the stranger kept dragging him away from his pursuers.

That night they reached the Darien Gap for the first time. The man, Vordigan, helped him cross the forest in a week-long journey on foot until they finally arrived at a remote camp in the middle of the forest.

The Brotherhood of Sion.

Long months of training followed and with them, his perception of the world changed. His natural skills with the bow made him a true marksman just as he learned that to have a fair place, sometimes you had to get your hands dirty.

The essence of Vordigan's lessons itself would lead Oliver to this very night and the worst mistake of his life as he finally spotted the roof of an imposing villa through the trees.

The flames of the torches shone through the blackness, enveloping the surrounding trees with a warmth only a fire could bring. It was there, on the marble of the patio spreading from the back of the two stories villa, that stood Echevarria.

He was alone. His wife had walked through the glass doors inside the house five minutes earlier while the servant cleared out the table, the sounds of plates and cutlery rattling together filled Oliver's ears.

Echevarria had his back to her, staring straight ahead into the forest. Had the archer not been such a expert at hiding in the bushes, he would have been noticed and probably executed right away.

Even if Oliver couldn't see them, it didn't mean there weren't any guards. The drug lord was known for his paranoia – a trait shared by many of his kind. It didn't matter much to the young bowman. His weapon was quick and silent, the definition of efficiency.

His pride relied on his ability to master this marvellous tool that was the bow and the arrow. It took years of patience for most people to get it to work decently. Oliver had been trained for seven months and he excelled at it.

As put in words by Vordigan himself, Oliver was no doubt the best bowman he had ever met. Sometimes the young man wondered if his abilities matched the ones of his mentor. It was a random thought that popped into his mind just like the other ones which relevance often varied.

Most of the time, Oliver's brain behaved incoherently and there were even moments where the dizziness brought him to the verge of unconsciousness as the world raced around him. Another thing he couldn't explain. Again, a part of him felt that something just didn't click with him and hadn't since he fled Colombia.

And the day of his return into the country, Oliver's heart suddenly slowed down. His breathing quieted as his eyes scoured over the prairie with accuracy. He took in the beautiful bed of Cattleyas, the local brand of orchids, bordering the east wall of the house as the moon reverberated on the dark blue tiles of the roof.

Those were the little things his eyes picked up in the time it took for him to look over the land. His sight moved over the large buried swimming pool and back onto Echevarria. The man stood relaxed, proud, happy as he sipped onto the expensive whiskey in his glass, oblivious to the danger ahead of him.

Sensing his moment, Oliver rose up from the leaves, the string of his bow pulled back tightly as the sharp arrow slid into the cradle, only awaiting for his fingers to release it to embed itself into its target approximately a hundred yards in front of him.

_"Rafe, Ven aquí, es hermoso en la noche, chico!" _

The archer was deaf in that instant, any and every sound drowned out by the beating of his own heart. He watched Echevarria sip on his glass once again and felt it. It was now or never.

In the blink of an eye, the arrow was snatched away and released into the air. A moment later, the man slumped to the ground without another word just as a little boy walked out of the house.

" _Papá!" _

* * *

**August 19th 2001. 11:26 AM UTC-6 (11:26 AM Local Time). La Palma, Panamà. **

His frame trembled and he took his head between both of his hands as he sat on his simple bed. The disillusion of the moment was devastating. It had nearly been a month since he murdered Echevarria. The mission had been a success, Vordigan was pleased.

_Papá! _

That word, that simple word echoed through his mind every second of every day. Oliver's world shattered from the instant he released that deadly arrow. He realized the irony of the situation. He was a hypocrite.

Born rich, left without his parents at the age of nine and holding a grudge against the world ever since. And now he was the reason of it happening all over again. He had killed a man, a family man, a father.

Rafe , that kid would grow up without his father because of him. Esteban Echevarria's despicable nature didn't change the fact that his actions were simply... wrong. How did he get in this situation? How come he had accepted to be spoon-fed lies day after day for months? Why did it take the death of a man to realize who his companions really were?

Murderers. And he was one of them.

The simple thought made him physically sick.

If only it was just an impression... Oliver's stomach rebelled against him every time he tried to eat. The stress overwhelming his senses to the point where his body simply gave up and he had to spend days in his room with his thoughts as sole companion.

_'You should relax,'_ Vordigan had told him. _'Take one of the girls, I'll send a medic your way soon.'_

Little did he know that his own words made Oliver feel worse. Now he could see with clear eyes his surroundings. The groups of young women parading around, sometimes even teenagers, his 'brothers' used to satisfy their sexual needs with were actual slaves.

It now came to Oliver that Vordigan wasn't asking for money as a rent to the people living on the lands they protected. Instead, he asked them to send their prettiest girls into the camp. A deal no one refused.

The young billionaire himself refused the one his mentor sent him, preferring to gently send her back to her peers even as she looked disappointed. He had vowed himself to chastity for the time he was gone from civilization as a punishment for what he did to Tess.

He let out a bitter scoff as he imagined what kind of papers the journalists would print if they knew that information. Him? The billionaire playboy not touching a woman for months on end? That sounded impossible.

Unfortunately, the impossible often happened while people weren't looking. He had learned that the hard way with Sion. Even as his body trembled and his stomach somersaulted, he had a hard time to believe it. Through the strong headache obscuring his ability to think, he recognized signs that were hard to miss.

He had hardly eaten anything in days and his situation only got worse. It wasn't the lack of food that forced him to tie himself to the bed so he wouldn't leave and beg someone for some of it. He wasn't even able to eat.

It had come as the final blow striking him in the back. Day after day of reflection and torment, he came to the only possible conclusion. He had been drugged. His current state was nothing else than a strong case of withdrawal from the substance that had been injected into his food without his knowledge.

Vordigan had used him.

The man he had come to admire, who trained and shaped his skills was nothing more than another one of those scumbags he had sworn to fight.

These thought weighing heavily on his conscience kept him awake at nights and unable to leave his bed at day. It was only when the sun came up in the last hours of august that his body finally calmed. He stopped vomiting, the shaking had subdued and the white pain in his head was ebbing away slowly.

That same day, a commotion disturbed the imposed silence of the camp, forcing Oliver out of his bed for the first time in weeks. He stood on wobbly legs, helping himself to stand with the walls as he peered through the cracks of the handmade straw patch they called a door.

The gates were pushed open slightly, and he saw his comrades assembled in the court, circling their leader. Vordigan's words couldn't be heard as he stood too far from Oliver but the blond put two and two together, realizing what was happening.

He froze for an instant when his mentor's eyes wandered over to his bedroom and the young man thought that he had been seen. He sighed in relief when an expression akin to regret passed over his face as he looked away.

Climbing into the chariot awaiting him, he waved once at his disciples and left. He was venturing alone, leading the horses away into the jungle on his own. Something he had never done before.

Quickly, Oliver slid out of the room and dug his way under the wooden fence. He emerged into the dark forest, his actions unseen by anyone else as he kept his bow and arrows on his back and followed the older man from afar. Thanking his hunting skills for once, Oliver managed to stay hidden from sight even as they started to leave the Gap and reached the first village.

Oliver swooped into the first empty house, his rumbling stomach pacified as he grabbed a full bread from the table along with discarded clothes and water. He was dressed and cleaned before Vordigan's ride even exited the town as he kept going.

This little game continued for three more days, the two of them only stopping for a couple hours a day to sleep. Oliver was exhausted and running on his last strengths, having not had a proper meal in nearly a month.

The journey felt like an eternity until, one beautiful morning at dawn, the orange shades of the sun tickled the plants on the roadside, large shadows ghosting over the ground.

Skyscrapers.

It was the first civilized city they came across since leaving the camp. Oliver hid in the bushes as Vordigan tied his horses to the city's sign. It read: La Palma.

The man walked into the street, passing by people too caught up in their agitated lifestyle to notice him or even Oliver's frame following him closely.

He stepped into an open butchery store, going straight for the backdoor as he nodded at the manager. Oliver stayed into the street, watching him disappear. Determined, he went for the narrow space between the two buildings, barely large enough to fit him.

He went out on the other side, an empty trash place just as voices floated over from the nearest window. He crouched, hiding against the wall and listened. Inside, four men were laughing and taking swipes of their drinks.

"So you got him?" It was the first time Oliver had heard the use of the English language since he left Ecuador.

"One of my minions put him down last month, everything's in order." Vordigan replied, gulping down the entire drink at once in an impressive gesture. He brought his empty glass to the man at his side who refilled it without another word.

The second man nodded. "Good news then," he said cheerfully. "He was the only one against us. You think you'll take over?"

The archer shook his head, smirking. "I'll put someone in charge, I have a circus to run."

"Right," the man laughed. "If only they knew they were working for the largest drug smuggler of the country! Sometimes I wonder how they don't even see it!" he drunk. "I admire you there, partner."

Vordigan chuckled. "They're lost kids who need to believe in something." he said. "It doesn't need to be the truth."

His words triggered the rage in Oliver who barely refrained himself from openly seething. Instead, he moved away as chairs squeaked against the tiles of the ground. The men rose, the speaking one shaking hands with Vordigan.

"I always say it but you're the smartest of us." he said. "Wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

"Don't get too wound up, I'm only there for the money." Vordigan winked. "Speaking of which, payment the first of every month, is that alright?"

"Perfect."

"Gentlemen." The archer nodded, going for the door.

It hadn't even fully closed when a tall figure fell over him, striking the back of his neck even as he kept struggling. A hand fell over his mouth, muffling his shouts. Vordigan was forced down on the ground in the middle of the store's back shop.

"I can't believe I'm not even surprised." his attacker growled, struggling to keep him down. "After everything I saw..."

Vordigan froze. "Oliver?"

The young man's jaw tightened. "Tell me why." he said.

"You... you weren't supposed to see that." There was a hint of despair in his voice. "Oliver you don't realize the sacrifices I had to make for the Brotherhood! Everything isn't black and white! There's a reason I did these things!"

Oliver pressed his back down. "Money." he slipped into his ear. "Don't try to explain anything to me, you lost that right when you turned me into your own personal killer." He grabbed the handle of a large butcher knife from the counter.

"Things had to be done..."

"Tell me one thing, Vordigan." Oliver started. "The hand... or the foot?"

His mentor's confusion was soon replaced by horror. "Oliv-"

The blade clamped down onto his forearm, slicing his hand. The man's cries of anguish altered everyone as he cradled his stump against his chest and turned on his back. Blood poured onto his clothes and his blurry eyes caught Oliver's form running away.

Seconds later, his associates blasted through the door, freezing at the sight of him on the ground. The first man looked towards the street, his eyes blazing. "Find him!"

"Don't kill him!" Vordigan yelled.

They wouldn't have the chance. Their targets had learned from his mistakes and used the roofs to flee their wrath. He slipped into an open window and hid into an empty hotel room for an entire day.

Hours later, his clothes were changed, his body freshly showered and his belly full for the first time in months. He sat in the bus quietly, reflecting over that chapter of his life which ended today. It had been nearly a year since he left Star City.

It took him all of this time to finally begin his journey back home. His time in South America was over.

He left behind a stint of violence and misguided ideas. It was a new man who crossed the border. An orphan looking for the truth, an Archer marksman, a cold-blooded murderer and a guilt-racked vigilante. Dreams turned nightmares and lessons learned from them, he walked away from this dangerous world to find his own again.

Yet, even as he decided to do his best to compensate for his errors at home, Oliver sent one last glance to the place that taught him so much. One of these days, he would be back... he would fix his mistakes.

He was Oliver Queen, and this was his story.

* * *

**_Now you know every secret Oliver once had. Any reaction is welcome of course and I realize that this chapter may not be everyone's cup of tea in this fandom so I'm interested in your feedbacks for this one more than the others._**  
**_Worry not, we're switching back to present time and Chloe/Oliver next chapter._**

**_Updates will keep coming. Thanks for reading!_**


	9. Chapter 9: Reunion

**Chapter 9: Reunion**

* * *

_'Making the wrong choices and living with the consequences... it's not easy, is it?' - Clark Kent, Season 6, Episode 5: "Reunion". _

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 06:45 PM UTC-6. Watchtower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

A breath eluded her, she couldn't quite lift away the astonished look from her face. Barely a minute earlier and he had been having a nightmare, still caught up in his coma. Now, she was looking straight into the deep brown eyes she had been dreaming to see again.

Her wish had been granted.

It was Oliver's face staring up into hers at that moment and she was still frozen in shock. He didn't seem to move either. Chloe's perception of time was understandably altered but she felt that they had stayed in that position for much too long.

She swallowed soundly, preparing to speak.

His head flicked to attention. "Who's that?" he bellowed.

Chloe frowned. "Oliver?"

His eyes roamed over her face and all she could see was the lack of focus in his irises. Her heart sank when she was reminded of his condition. He was blind, he hadn't improved.

"Chloe?"

"I'm here."

"Why can't I see you?" he started, agitated. "I can't see you, I can't see anything!"

She cupped the sides of his face, her fingers drawing away his tension. "I know, I know..." she soothed. "You're- It's your eyes, Ollie. You had a bad hit to the back of your head and..."

"I've gone blind, haven't I?" he uttered his question in such a calm way that it struck her.

Chloe's mouth was dry all of a sudden. "Yes," her head dropped. "You have."

His hands rose to touch her face tentatively, mirroring the actions she had done on him a minute ago. "I don't even see dark, I see _nothing _." his brow furrowed in sorrow. "My god, I can't even see you!"

She felt the moisture filling her eyes, his dismay had never been so raw in his expression. "I'm sorry-"

She gasped when his lips slanted across hers, their tongues tangling in a dance none of them had forgotten. Their bodies fell into the comfortable rhythm that had been broken when they were apart. It lasted for a long while, none of them willing to let go of each other until their natural instinct took over.

They sucked in a breath, parting but tightening their grip on each other. Oliver licked his lips, closing his eyes. "I can still do that, at least." he seemed pacified.

She started to smile until she realized he couldn't see it. Instead, Chloe went to stand up but his arms prevented her. "What are you doing?"

"I need to tell Emil you're awake." she replied in a soft whisper. "You've just woken up from a long sleep and we were all scared. You need to be checked before anything else."

Oliver's discontentment couldn't be hidden. "Okay." he sighed, letting go of her.

Her face softened. "I won't be long." she promised, kissing him once more before getting on her feet to leave the room.

Every step she took warmed her heart. Oliver was awake. Finally, the cloud was lifting and things were looking up. She felt that they could still manage to win on this one. There was still hope.

* * *

**September 15th 2009. 08:24 PM UTC-6. Watchtower, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"So that's what you've been hiding from us all this time."

Oliver looked up, angling his face towards her voice. "You knew?"

She squinted at him. "Remember the day you came back from Iran to pick me up so we could have thanksgiving at the Kent farm?"

He had to rack his fogged brain for a moment. "Uh... yeah... why?"

"You asked me about my Brainiac abilities and I didn't want you to know so I asked you why you went to rescue AC yourself from that hole he was in, remember?"

His face was alit with attention now. "Yeah."

"You had that look in your eyes and I realized that there must have been something in your past that happened. Now, I know."

He looked down. "I killed a man Chloe."

She stroke his forehead. "You weren't responsible for your actions."

Oliver snorted. "If you knew the number of times I kept telling myself that..."

"You said it yourself, Vordigan had drugged you." Chloe countered.

He shook his head. "That still doesn't excuse what I did."

"It doesn't." she agreed. "But we all know that one's judgement is impaired when hooked on drugs, we see that every night when you guys patrol."

"Chloe please..."

"I'm not downplaying your role in Echevarria's death but you have to realize that Vordigan had perhaps been planning this out for months, maybe even years and he spent all this time grooming you into his own weapon, you're nothing else than a victim in this story."

When he kept shaking his head, Chloe sighed. "Honey..." she cupped his face. "It's not your fault."

"Come on, Chloe!" he raged.

"It's not your fault." she repeated on the same tone.

She said it again, again and again... until her words pierced through his walls and his resolve wobbled. "It's not your fault."

His head turned away from her voice, as if he wanted to escape her but she never stopped telling him what he refused to acknowledge until... His shoulders shook and he broke into tears. "I killed a man!" he cried.

She took him into her arms, soothing him, doing nothing but hold him as he cried every tear he had into the crook of her neck whilst she offered her comfort. "It's not your fault." she murmured once more. "It's not."

When his body calmed down and the sniffling subdued, she lifted his face, gazing into his unseeing eyes. "You believe it now?"

He nodded, a few tears adding to the trail of water on his cheeks. She swept them away tenderly. Both of them remained silent for an instant. "Thank you."

She smiled. "Why, you're welcome." she replied tongue-in-cheek.

He offered her an almost complete grin, the first one since he woke up. "I don't deserve you, Chloe."

"You're wrong,"

"I'm not." he challenged. "How can you not run for the hills now that you know every dark secret I had? I'm messed up."

"Hey." she gripped his face. "Vordigan or no Vordigan, I'm _in love _with you." she stated, her tone making it clear she meant it. "It wasn't your looks, your money or the sex that drew me to you, it's the vulnerable boy under the façade who wants to make up for his mistakes and help the people in need. The one who so desperately wants to honor his parents' memory and make them proud, the one who cares for any of us in the team as if we were all family."

He closed his eyes, absorbing her words. She watched him in silence and knew the moment they sunk in. "You mean all this?"

She titled her head to the side. "Wouldn't be telling you if I didn't. Why, do you doubt me?"

The corners of his lips lifted. "Of course not but that's horribly cheesy, Sidekick."

She laughed, swapping at his shoulder. "You're an ass!"

"Ow!" he grinned. "Hey remember you're hurting a helpless man here!"

He didn't realize the impact his words had until he felt her freeze on his lap. "Chloe?"

"I'm sorry."

His glazed eyes widened. "Oh no, you don't-" he looked for his words. "It's not the end of the world. I'm blind, so what?"

"So what?" she repeated in disbelief. "Ollie, you rely on your eyes for everything in your life!"

"Stop there right now." he ordered. "First, Emil said it could be temporary and even if it's not, I can adapt myself. As much as it would hurt, I would have to drop Green Arrow and help the team another way."

She gasped. "And you're okay with that?!"

"Of course not but that's better than going out there and getting myself killed." he replied. "At the end of the day, all I want is to come back home and be with you. I'm not that heroic." he admitted. "If I had to chose between you and the world... I think most Green Arrow fans would be disappointed."

She swallowed hard. "I don't know what to say." she bit her lip to control her emotions.

"That's a moment I'll have to remember for once." he teased before sobering up. "See we're both cheesy, in the end, but I wouldn't want it another way."

She smiled as they hugged. "Ditto."

Oliver sighed in contentment. "Mmh, I still have one thing that mind of yours could resolve though."

Knowing the man, she couldn't expect anything else but a sexual joke. "Go on." she said in anticipated amusement.

"I still don't know who the guy impersonating Green Arrow is." he exposed in a grave voice.

Her head went right back into the game. "I thought it was Vordigan."

"Nope, it can't be him."

Her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Because I hacked his hand off the last time I saw him and the archer I fought with was a young one and had _both _hands." He recalled.

Her head buzzed as her mind whirled to try to solve the mystery. "Who else would want to disgrace you?"

Oliver shrugged. "Don't know, another Brotherhood disciple, maybe?"

"No that can't be," she refuted. "Why would Vordigan wait ten years to send someone after you?"

"Maybe he didn't know my identity."

"After seeing your face and knowing your name?" she grinned. "Please, Ollie you're the farthest thing from being a nobody even in South America. Most people don't know who Bruce Wayne is because he doesn't make a show of his life like you did before."

"You're right." he agreed, ducking in head in a sheepish manner.

An idea popped up in her mind. "What if-" she climbed down his lap in quick fashion and grabbed her laptop, settling herself to his side on the bed.

Oliver could hear her fingers flying over the keyboard furiously. A soft smile borned on his lips: some things never changed.

Then it stopped. The stillness he could feel around the room had his blood pumping. "What? You got something?"

"How old did you say Esteban Echevarria's son was when you were with the brotherhood?" she asked, a numb tone carrying her voice.

"I don't know, about... nine? Ten, maybe?" he deduced. "Why?"

"I'm looking at a Rafael Echevarria's file right now, son of a certain _Esteban _Echevarria." she said. "It's part of the police report about his father's assassination ten years ago and he is listed as an eye witness."

"Okay..." he started to follow her train of thought but something stopped him from pulling the pieces together. "So?"

"Oliver!" she gulped. "He was born in '91, he should be about eighteen years old right now and just about the same age as the man you described as the fake Green Arrow. He has every feature too. Plus he's been listed as missing for two years now."

"It's him. Rafe's the dark archer."

* * *

**September 16th 2009. 11:03 PM UTC-6. Low Rise K4 - Flat n°8, Bakerline Borough, Metropolis, Kansas, USA. **

Sammy was watching the street from his bedroom window tonight. He knew that if his mommy caught him up at this hour he would be in trouble. She didn't like it when he didn't listen, his mommy often said.

But it wasn't his fault. Sammy simply couldn't sleep, he liked to watch people walk by in the evening. It always made him sleepy after a while. Good thing his bedroom door was closed right now or his mommy would see him up and he would get a slap on the butt.

Sammy didn't like that. It always stung long after and he felt bad when that happened. He didn't want to feel badbut he couldn't help not listening to his mommy.

There weren't many people outside today. It was normal,he knew. It was dark and cold down in the street right now, a thing that he hated. Sammy liked feeling warm. Most of the time, he asked his moma to turn up the shower temperature because he was too cold for his liking.

She never agreed with him so when she happened to have her back to him, he would reach up and screw the device up a notch or two. Sometimes she would notice and give him that shake of the head with a look that said 'you little sneak'. It made him laugh every time.

Sammy wasn't laughing now, in fact he was bored. There wasn't anyone outside but he still waited. Mr. Tie wouldn't be long if he followed his usual routine. Mr. Tie was living in the apartment across Sammy's.

His mommy always called him 'Sir' or 'Mr. Kogan'. Sammy rolled his eyes at the thought. _Boring _! Once he had read the name plate on Mr. Tie's door. That was when he found out the man's first name: Kenneth.

He giggled remembering that moment. Mr. Tie's name sounded like it came from a cartoon. ' _Kenneth The Kangaroo _' Sammy thought that would be a good title. It wasn't his fault, though. It was always the parents who chose how you would be called.

He knew he didn't chose to be called Sammy. But he liked it. Mr. Tie probably didn't have good parents. Still, he was cool. Whenever they met, he would always wink at Sammy or give him a piece of candy or chocolate.

It was great.

His mommy always acted weird around Mr. Tie. It was like she was about to bow as he walked by. She once said he was the State's Attorney. Sammy didn't know what an attorney was but it sounded important.

One day Sammy asked him what an attorney was. Mr. Tie chuckled and replied that being an attorney gave you the chance to wear a suit and a tie and to send bad people to prison. Sammy thought it was awesome except the tie part. He didn't often see men walk around with them around their necks but when he did he would make a face.

Ties were weird. They were like leashes except that you gave them to men instead of dogs. They looked stupid with that thing swinging right and left with every step they made. Mr. Tie was no exception. His suits looked cool but not the tie. Never the tie. _Brr! _

Oh! Here we was! Mr. Tie stumbled out of his car. It was a big car and it always shone in the light like there were people taking pictures with the flash going non-stop. Surely his mommy was right: Mr. Tie was an important man.

It was strange that he lived in a small apartment across Sammy's, though. He didn't have a wife either, that was even stranger. All the grownups Sammy knew were married or living together. Tonight, Mr. Tie was alone again and he walked unsteadily to the porch steps just like every other night.

Sammy noticed the red smudges on his neck. That wasn't new either. The first night Sammy noticed that, he thought Mr. Tie was hurt. When asked about it, he would smirk and tell him that he would understand when he was older. _Pff! Whatever! _That was a phrase he often heard these times.

Sammy waved from his window but Mr. Tie didn't see him. He had this stupid grin on his face as he patted his pockets for what felt like an hour. Maybe it was... Sammy checked the time at his clock.

No it wasn't!

After a minute, Mr. Tie had finally found his keys. Sammy giggled as he heard him say bad words and lose his footing in the stairs. His mommy said he had to cover his ears when people said bad words around him but Sammy found it fun. Mr. Tie was fun.

He had to cover his mouth with his hand or his mommy would hear him laugh as Mr. Tie fell and groaned. That was the part he always liked. In a moment, he would get his keys and poke at the door several times, always missing the keyhole.

Sammy liked to watch him though the front door at this moment. Tonight his mommy was in the kitchen doing the dishes. Sammy could hear the pans and plates buckling along with the water tap. It would be hard to get to the door without her seeing him but not impossible.

It was a mission for... Sammy The Super Shadow! "Tadatata!" he chanted as he found his favorite blanket to use as a cape and wrapped himself in it. "Quick, Super Sammy! Quick!" he whispered to himself.

The universe's super-gods were with him tonight. His mother had her back turned when Sammy dashed through the corridor past the kitchen. He flattened himself against the wall and put a clumsy hand on the handle as the other one turned the key slowly to unlock the front door.

It clicked once. He winced. Freezing for an instant, Sammy heard his mother hum under her breath in the kitchen and sighed in relief. He drew the wooden door open ajar and poked an eye out.

Sammy frowned. Mr. Tie's door was still open and there was a trail of red patches on the ground. That wasn't what he expected. He felt his tummy twinge a little but refused to close the door and walk back to his bedroom.

Super Sammy wasn't a coward!

He padded out into the hall and froze when his foot slipped slightly over the red substance on the ground. _Eww! _it was wet.

"Mr. Tie?" he called tentatively.

No answer.

Sammy tried again. This time there were footsteps inside his apartment. "Mr. Tie?"

He pushed the door open wider, a gasp leaving him as tears filled his eyes. Mr. Tie was there but he wasn't right. There was red all over him and not only his neck! There was a strange grey bar sticking out of his mouth as his two wide eyes stared straight at Sammy.

He didn't like the way, Mr. Tie was looking at him. It was scary. He was sat against the opposite wall facing Sam and wasn't moving at all. "Mr. Tie?" his own voice was wavering and he didn't know why he was crying.

Sammy shrieked and jumped. His heart beating fast in his chest. There was a man crouching on the window ledge. No, not a man, a monster! Sammy saw the white, sharp teeth appearing from under the monster's hood.

Now he was trembling. The creature let out a terrifying laugh and leaped outside. Sammy raced back into his apartment, tears of fright leaking down his face.

"MOMMY!"

* * *

**_My "retirement" had become a hiatus and now that I've had time to think things through, I'm back in the fanfiction game. Updates between chapters will be made on a weekly basis from now on BUT there might be long (very long) gaps in time between two fics as I decided to massively cut down my writing time._**

**_Thanks for sticking by and sorry for the scare._**


	10. Chapter 10: Rise To Power

**Chapter 10: Rise To Power**

* * *

_'You know, I've always wondered if there was anyone out there like me' – Bart Allen, Season 4, Episode 5: "Run"._

* * *

**December 7th 2009. 11:09 AM UTC-6. Queen Industries Offices, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

_'[CUE INTRODUCTION TUNE] "Let's start the journal by the Presidential Campaign. Andy? Could you tell us what's the shape of things to come?"_

"_Let's just say that everything is possible!"_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes! [LAUGHS] For the first time in American history, a man whom nobody thought had a chance has just topped the crowd's favorite – The Democrat Martin Hill – in every survey we carried out! They give Lex Luthor a lead of almost four points over Hill. That's a twenty per cent rise overall since September and I believe that it will only go up and up with time."_

"_So... Lex Luthor, the next president of the United States?"_

"_Not yet, Ann! Let me show you what's likely to happen next. [SCREEN SWITCHES TO USA MAP] Here we see in red the states favoring Lex Luthor and in blue, Martin Hill. We have the traditionally Republican states like Texas or Missouri preferring Luthor – That's not a surprise! But look at that! [CUE CIRCLE ON NEW YORK STATE] Here are the states which have changed sides over the last few months, we register five of them on the east coast alone!"_

"_That's incredible!"_

_[SCREEN SWITCHES BACK TO JOURNALIST]_

"_Yes but let's not get ahead of ourselves, there are still three months before the votes begin and Martin Hill isn't going to say his last word just yet!" [CUE SOUND]_

_[CHUCKLES] "Very dramatic, Andy, thank you! Let's go back to the national news right now: Will Tiger Woods's problems ever stop? A month after his apologies to his family, his mother in law has been admitted to the hospital..."'_

"Not a word about Kogan!" Oliver exclaimed as he switched the TV off. "It's like they can't even tie this up to Lex's rise in public opinion!"

The state of things left a lot to be desired. Two months ago, Kansas's State Attorney, Kenneth Kogan was brutally murdered by someone whom everybody believed to be Green Arrow. These suspicions were confirmed once a video of Kogan's death became public, directly incriminating Oliver's alter-ego. The police and FBI didn't hesitate to push the envelope even further after this shocking headline.

They promptly issued a statement inviting people susceptible to know something about the vigilante to contact them. The fear was starting to show. It could be felt every time you walked down into the streets, people were febrile and paranoid, often looking over their shoulders for the smallest of things.

The worse of it all was the inability of the Justice League to stop all this madness. They all knew, Oliver the first of them, that Lex was behind this masquerade. The dots hadn't been too hard to connect. What were the odds for Oliver's past to come back to haunt him just as Luthor started his political campaign?

It remained a mystery how Lex ever learned of Oliver's adventures in South America or when he decided to bring over to the States Rafael Echevarria to strike his own personal revenge against the Californian billionaire.

Too many bad surprises and the League couldn't do anything. They'd been blind-sided by Luthor and it hurt to admit that Lex played it smarter than them. The odds were in his favor now, they all knew it.

"Something tells me they were instructed not to say a word about it." Chloe reasoned as she eased against the glass of Oliver's desk. "You bet I would find some Lex tainted money pumped into one of their accounts?"

"Don't bother, you can be sure he would have covered his ass."

Chloe sighed, looking at her boyfriend sadly. "We'll catch him eventually."

"Yeah? When?" he challenged. "You think that the moment he crosses the White House' garden he will ever leave his power? He'll grip it tight against his chest and never let go! We'll become the Western Russia with our very own Vladimir Putin."

He let out a bitter laugh. "Hell, I'd rather live under his than Lex's thumb!"

Chloe sat up straighter. "You think we should leave? Exile ourselves?"

"To be honest... I think about it more and more every day." he admitted. "I know it would be like admitting defeat but if things turn bad, I'm not sure it would be safe for any of us to stay."

"We have our whole lives here!" she shook her head. "You can't – let me talk, you! - you can't let it get to your head, not now! I refuse to lay down before him and let him win!"

"Chloe..."

"What?" she snapped. "You don't think I'm right?"

He rose from his chair, rounding the desk to get to her. "Sidekick, I never saw you being wrong, ever but we have to consider every possibility..."

"We have to consider every possibility." She repeated, holding his gaze. "Including the one where we win."

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "You really have faith in us there, babe. Maybe too much."

She titled her head to the side. "We saw you recover your sight in barely two months time." she reminded him, her nimble fingers lifting the glasses from his nose. "If that happened, everything can happen."

Oliver squinted. "You realize that I'm still not one hundred percent back to form and probably never will see the way I did?" he said. "Hell, I can't even shoot an arrow straight anymore because of my sight."

"We can make you special lenses and you know it." she shot back. "Why can't you see the bright side of things this time?"

"Because," he interrupted. "I have to consider the worst before I can believe in the best and secondly... I enjoy arguing with you."

She couldn't help grinning. "Really? I didn't know."

"Sure you didn't." he mocked. "What do you think all thathot make-up sex was last time?" He pressed her body against the desk.

"Mmh I don't know, maybe you were just being your usual whiny self."

He snorted. "Sidekick, believe me when I say that between the two of us, you're the whiny one and I quite like it..."

She laughed as he nuzzled her neck. "Perv!"

"You like it too!" he insisted.

She was about to retort when his speaker pinged. They both groaned and parted. "What is it?" Oliver asked to the device.

"_There's someone here to meet you, Oliver."_ His assistant's voice sounded.

"Did I have a meeting that I forgot?" he asked.

"_Hum, no but this is a special occasion..."_

"What? Mary don't tell me it's reporters again." Chloe shot him an amused glance, he winked back.

"_It's not reporters."_ Mary assured nervously. _"It's Bruce Wayne, actually."_

Oliver frowned. "Wayne?" he exclaimed. "You're kidding, right? I thought the old fart was dead already!"

Mary cleared her throat. _"Oliver you're on speaker..."_

He dropped his head to his chest as Chloe snickered. "That'll teach you!"

He shot her a glance before grabbing her hand and leading her out of his office to meet the new guest. As expected, the man waiting outside looked clearly unimpressed. "Your honesty warms my heart, Queen."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "You're old, get over it."

Indeed, Bruce Wayne was starting to show some grey hair here and there which wasn't surprising as he was more than fifteen years older than Oliver. "Your tact never changes, I see that you know how to greet your guest." His gaze fell on Chloe. "Now you surprise me, Oliver."

Bruce walked up to them, avoiding the other man and lifting Chloe's hand to his lips. "Allow me to introduce myself, Bruce Wayne, to please you."

Chloe's cheeks abhorred a light blush. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Wayne. I'm Chloe Sullivan."

"Hey, hey!" Oliver snatched her to his side. "Hands off, you ape! She's taken."

"Ollie!" she exclaimed, mortified at his attitude. She didn't know why he was acting like that.

Bruce smirked. "I don't know what this lovely creature sees in you but I'm sure she'll tell me soon."

"In your dreams."

Chloe sighed. "Why do I feel like we're witnessing a male pissing contest here?" she asked Mary.

Oliver rolled his eyes at the sight of Bruce's smirk. "Whatever. Get in my office we'll talk assuming you don't want to buy me off, in that case the answer is a direct and clear no."

The dark-haired man walked by them. "Now you're giving me ideas..."

The blond couple watched him settle into his office confidently. "I'll leave you two alone if you promise me not to hurt him in there."

Oliver's gaze went down to his girlfriend. "Now who's expecting the worst?"

They grinned at each other. "I think your guest is waiting Oliver." Mary's patient voice broke them apart.

"Right," he blinked at her. "I'll call you when I'm done, okay?"

Chloe shook her head. "No need for that, I'll keep Mary company and that will give me the opportunity to make sure you don't strangle him or anything."

"Smartass!" he grumbled, stealing a kiss from her.

"Aw don't pout that's too cute!" she said in a sing-song voice.

"I rest my case." he growled, heading for his office to join Wayne.

* * *

**December 7th 2009. 12:46 PM UTC-6. Central Kansas Campus, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

A young couple walked down the stairs leading to the Central Kansas University. They walked side by side, holding a reasonable distance between each other. The young man held the door open for her.

"Thanks." Mia mumbled.

Bart simply grinned and followed her inside. They reached the cafeteria, every table was crowded and the noise was deafening. It was lunch time on the campus. "There's no room in here."

"Bah, no need to be there anyway, I know another spot." the young man assured her.

He led her down the main corridor, they crossed the entire building in less than a minute. They reached the students's dorm in just as much time. The first thought crossing Mia's mind was that it was much less crowded than the cafeteria.

"It's just beds and showers here." she said sceptically.

"Nah," he shook his head. "I know a guy who went here and he showed me..." They walked towards a large room on the side. "This place!"

It was a big clear space with a large table in the middle and two long benches on each side. No one was occupying the place. "Wow."

"The people around here pretty much only use this room for homework or stuff like that so..." he shrugged. "It's good, right? We can talk now."

A timid smile betrayed her lack of confidence. "Isn't this reserved for students?"

He made a face. "Won't tell if you don't." he winked.

They proceeded to set their food on the table and sit on the same side. Bart didn't waste time biting into his cheeseburger while she watched him and his jaw-slacking appetite with wide, surprised eyes.

He took notice of her stance between two bites and blushed. "Sorry... I guess I'm hungry." he cleared his throat.

"I guess you are." she laughed.

"So what's up?"

It's been two months since Bart delivered a neatly tied up Rick with proof of racketing, assault, possession of illegal firearms and managing a prostitution network stuffed into his pockets. Word got out on Mia's street that the 'boss' was out for a long time.

Rick was the only one who held leverage over her and had forced her into prostitution when she was still a teen. His being gone left her free to leave the street and try to find her balance in life. A thing which proved hard to realize when you spent four years and a half in the streets.

"I'm out of the game you know." she said.

He took another bite. "Yeah, I heard."

"Pamela and the other girls are trying to go to Florida, they heard it was easier to get a job there." she fiddled with her salad.

"What about you?"

"Me?" she looked at him in surprise.

He held her gaze. "Yeah, you."

"Oh... I don't know."

Bart put his food down, turning towards her. "I can give you a hand you know."

Her gaze went down. "I don't even know how to thank you, already... I-"

"I don't want thanks, I want to see you get better." his words surprised her. "I noticed the dark patches under your eyes." he motioned to her face.

Mia's hand tried went to touch the skin under her eyes. "Yeah, don't try to fix it, beautiful." he interrupted. "You look great already."

"Then how did you notice?"

He smiled faintly. "'Cause I had the same a few years ago. Can't sleep right?"

She nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"Got the same bug." he reminisced. "I didn't know what to do next because nothing seemed to be open to someone like me. So I went from city to city, stealing wallets and using fake IDs to pay for a hotel for the night and eat something."

She gasped. "I didn't know."

His smirk wasn't as bright as usual. "See? We're more alike than you think."

"What happened then?"

Bart's eyes lit up. "Got a hand from the one up there." he pointed to the sky. "One night, I stole this guy's wallet and got myself a nice plate of chicken and fries... with pepper sauce and all. Man I just drool thinking about it!"

Her soft laugh spurred him on. "Turns out, that the guy from the wallet was someone." he counted. "He managed to find me, I don't even know how, he never told me! I thought he wanted payback and I was about to run off until he showed me his hand. Like this." Bart mimicked the gesture, extending his arm in a giving stance. "He said. 'You're worth more than you think.' he said that! The dude seriously scared the shit outta me!"

Her eyes shone with amusement and attention, she leaned into him. "What did you say?"

Bart was still caught up in his memories. "I said the usual thing, basically 'Whatever, fuck off!' and I was gone. The thing is that he got me thinking and after about two hours I couldn't think about anything else than what he told me. I still had his wallet so I called him. He picked up, no problem and..."

"And?"

He turned his attention towards her. "And it's been more than four years since I called him. Today I have a job, and some freaking great friends, we're like family and all because we all lived through the same shit. But that guy, he's like my brother or something, now. Man I'd die for him, y'know?"

"Really?"

"Yeah..." he nodded. "See? There are still good people in this world."

She looked sad. "You're lucky."

"You can be lucky, too." he announced in a gentle offer. "Just let me help you."

"I... I.."

"I'm part of this super group and I know them, they would love to have you with us. They can help you get your life back." he explained. "If... if you want."

She sat up straight again, looking down onto her meal. "I don't think I'm ready." she whispered.

"We don't have to rush, just tell me when you're ready." he said. "'Kay? 'Cause the offer'll still be on the table!"

The hope he gave him would have had her in tears if she didn't know how to hold a strong front. For a girl like her, after years of misery, it all seemed too good to be true. Bart's joviality made it seem like it happened all at once and she was scared it would leave her behind if she didn't answer right away. His words, however, pacified her and she reminded herself that he wanted to help her. Nothing more.

"I'll- I'll think about it... okay?"

He grinned. "Sure. You're gonna eat that?"

This time, her laugh filled the room. God, yes. It felt good to be free.

* * *

**December 7th 2009. 12:47 PM UTC-6. Queen Industries Offices, Metropolis, Kansas, USA.**

"I like the glasses."

Oliver smirked, taking them off to clean the lenses. "Yeah? At least mine are stylish enough to be appropriate in public." he shot back, grinning. "What about you? I'm sure you got these old thingies hidden somewhere in your pockets. You know the kind? Old grandma style which you secretly like but can't admit that you wear."

"Between the two of us, you're the only one wearing glasses, Oliver." Bruce assured him. "By the way, fashion choice or sight issues?"

The blond sighed, motioning to the couches on the side. They settled themselves across each other. "I had an accident in September and my eyes haven't been the same ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Bruce replied in a show of sincerity. "What kind of accident was it?"

"Why? Do I ask about your base-jumping trips?"

"I haven't jumped in years." the other man affirmed. "So that's what it was? Bad jump? Head injury?"

Oliver looked around. "Pretty much." he finished.

"Is it?"

"Yes, what's up with the sudden inquiries?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing... nothing." Bruce said, his peer couldn't help remarking the mysterious vibe his answer had given him. "I just hope that you'll have a quick recovery."

"So do I." Oliver nodded. "So, you heard about Lex?"

"How could I not?"

"What do you think?"

The dark-haired man sighed. "I think he knows what he wants but is that the best for the country? I'm not convinced."

"Can't disagree there." Oliver said, his tone dry. "Even if you, Bruce Wayne, refuse to vote Republican this time then people should take that as a hint."

"People only listen to what they want to hear." Bruce reasoned. "Not that I've heard a lot about the competition... what is Martin Hill doing?"

Oliver shrugged. "I have no idea, I'm starting to wonder if Lex isn't pulling his leg here, one way or another. Anyway, it's bad."

"It is bad." Bruce agreed.

"How bad?"

"Very bad."

Oliver squinted at him for a moment, wondering not for the first time in the last ten minutes what kind of knowledge Bruce possessed about their fellow billionaire businessman. He would have pushed him a little further but knowing the man, Oliver realized how much of a gamble it would be.

There wasn't a chance Bruce would willingly show his cards, that was the kind of man he was. Considering the fact that Queen Industries's Board of Directors were openly criticizing Oliver for his absences and starting to think about replacing him, the blond couldn't afford to put off a potential business partner by his questions.

"Okay let's talk business then." he declared. "Why isn't Lucius Fox sitting here instead of you?"

Bruce took the hint. "I'm not much involved in Wayne Enterprises's management anymore but this is a side-project which I think could be interesting if we happened to have Queen Industries's technology injected in it."

Oliver skimmed over the documents on the table. "What would Wayne Enterprises want to do with a biotechnological exoskeleton? That's not for the military, is it? Because if it is, you know that's against my rules."

"It's purely for civilian purposes." Bruce assured him. "Besides, it's still experimental and we will decide if we produce it depending on the results of this prototype."

Oliver's interest was picked. "Tell me more..."


End file.
